TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
Ralph D. Karpinos, Town Attorney
SUBJECT: Options for Possible Implementation of New Parking Regulations on Private Property
DATE: September 11, 2000
The purpose of this memorandum is to seek guidance from the Town Council on the implementation of recent authority granted to the Town by the North Carolina General Assembly to enact regulations on the parking of cars on residential properties.
In the course of the Council’s consideration of the regulation of residential rental properties several months ago, it was suggested that landlords have difficulty preventing the intermittent use of front yards of residential lots for the parking of cars. (Currently, the Town regulates the use of front yards in historic districts for the parking of cars, but does so by issuance of a zoning violation notice to the property owner. The proposed regulations discussed in this memorandum would be implemented through an amendment to the Town Code, not the Development Ordinance.)
As part of its legislative program for the 2000 Session of the General Assembly, the Council sought and received authority to enact an ordinance regulating parking of cars on individual residential properties. (A copy of the applicable legislative language is attached.) As provided by the statute, the ordinance, if enacted, could be applied to any individual property only upon the request of the property owner.
If landlords ask the Town to apply such an ordinance to their properties, this tool might allow an additional means by which the proliferation of cars on residential properties, particularly near campus, could be slowed.
We would anticipate that enforcement of any new regulations would be by parking enforcement personnel assigned to the Transportation Department and that the citations, similar to citations issued for most other parking violations, would result in civil penalties. The police Department could also issue these citations.
We have identified a number of possible ordinances that the Council might wish to consider implementing the authority recently granted by the General Assembly. Once an ordinance is in place, individual property owners could request its application to their property. A separate action by the Council to apply the regulation to each property, most likely through simple ordinance on the consent agenda, would be the way to make the regulation applicable to each property. (By comparison, under the pre-existing law, the City of Winston-Salem has enacted an ordinance regulating parking on certain privately owned business lots. The Ordinance lists almost 400 individual businesses and the hours during which parking is prohibited. An excerpt from the Winston-Salem Ordinance is attached.) The amount of work required of Town staff will depend on the interest shown by property owners and the effectiveness of the ordinance itself in preventing improper parking and the need for citations to be issued.
Options the Council might wish to consider for implementing the new authority include:
1. Enacting an ordinance prohibiting parking on residential properties except in paved or graveled driveways.
If the Council were to enact an ordinance with such a regulation and it were made applicable to a specific property at the request of the owner, the Town parking enforcement staff could write a ticket and place it on any car not parked in the paved or graveled driveway. (Areas designated for parking are currently regulated only in the historic district through the front yard parking ordinance, which is part of the Development Ordinance).
2. Enacting an ordinance prohibiting parking on a residential property except with a valid residential permit, issued by the Town, for that specific lot.
If the Council were to enact an ordinance with such a regulation and it were made applicable to a specific property at the request of the owner, the Town could issue a certain number permits for a specific lot, in a manner similar to issuance of permits for on-street parking. Parking enforcement personnel could then check cars parked on that lot and issue tickets to those not displaying the proper permits.
3. Enacting an ordinance limiting the number of vehicles that could be parked on a residential property, in conjunction with requiring a valid residential permit.
If the Council were to enact an ordinance with such a regulation and it were made applicable to a specific property at the request of the owner, the Town could issue a certain number of permits for a specific lots. Parking enforcement personnel would not necessarily check cars for the permits unless they were to first determine that an excess number of vehicles was parked on the specific lot.
Options 2 and 3 clearly would require much more involvement and record keeping on behalf of the Town Staff than would Option 1.
4. Refer this matter to the committee considering the licensing of rental residential properties.
The Council might determine that this matter should be considered by the Rental Licensing Work Group.
5. Hold a public forum.
The Council might determine that a public forum on this issue should be held before any ordinance is considered.
There may be other options for implementation of this new legislative authority the Council would wish to consider. We note that regulating just the hours during which parking would be allowed, as is done on business properties in the Winston-Salem example referenced above, might not address the concerns which lead to the development of this proposed regulation.
Finally, we note that we believe that it would be necessary, as part of any Ordinance enacted and then applied to a specific property, that there be a sign posted at that property providing reasonable notice to persons as to the nature of the regulation in effect on that lot. (Winston-Salem’s ordinance provides that the parking regulations as to each business “shall become effective when appropriate signs giving notice thereof shall be erected by the business.”)
RECOMMENDATION
That the Council consider this report and provide such further guidance and direction to the staff as it deems appropriate.
1. New legislative authority to regulate parking on residential lots (p. 4).
2. Excerpt from Winston-Salem Ordinance (p.5).
EXCERPT FROM SESSION LAW 2000-97, GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA, SESSION 1999
AN ACT TO MAKE SUNDRY AMENDMENTS CONCERNING THE TOWN OF CHAPEL HILL . .
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
. . . .
Section 3.(a) G.S. 160A-301(d) reads as rewritten:
"(d) The governing body of any city may, by ordinance, regulate
the stopping, standing, or parking of vehicles in specified
areas of any parking areas or driveways of a hospital, shopping
center, apartment house, condominium complex, or commercial
office complex, or any other privately owned public vehicular
area, as well as any private lot used for residential purposes
whether or not demarcated as a vehicular area, or prohibit
such stopping, standing, or parking during any specified hours,
provided the owner or person in general charge of the operation
and control of that area requests in writing that such an
ordinance be adopted. The owner of a vehicle parked in violation
of an ordinance adopted pursuant to this subsection shall be
deemed to have appointed any appropriate law-enforcement officer
as his agent for the purpose of arranging for the transportation
and safe storage of such vehicle."
Section 3.(b) This section applies to the Town of
Chapel Hill only.
. . . .
Section 6. This act is effective when it becomes law.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified
this the 10th day of July, 2000.