[Adopted 2-14-1978 by L.L. No. 1-1978]
The Town Board of the Town of New Castle, New
York, hereby finds and declares, as a matter of legislative determination
and by authority of the Vehicle and Traffic Law of the State of New
York, that it is in the best interest of the public and for the welfare
and safety of the inhabitants of the Town of New Castle and to regulate
and control traffic to prevent congestion of traffic and to expedite
the orderly movement thereof, that this article be enacted.
Whenever road conditions in the Town of New
Castle, or a portion thereof, shall become hazardous or such that
the free movement of fire, health, police, emergency or other vehicular
traffic may be impeded by reason of snow, freezing rain, sleet, ice,
water, debris, fire or other natural or artificial causes, the Supervisor
of the Town of New Castle or such other Town official designated by
him, may, and is hereby authorized to, declare the existence of an
emergency.
A.
The declaration of an emergency as aforesaid shall
be conveyed to the public as soon after declaration as may be practicable
by announcement by one local radio station or one daily newspaper
of general circulation in the Town of New Castle, or both. Additionally,
notice may be transmitted to the general public by distribution of
notices, leaflets, handbills or other written or printed notice distributed
to the general public or affixed to the automobiles parked on the
streets within the Town of New Castle.
B.
If the emergency is obvious, such as fire, unusually
heavy snowfall or other visible causes, which to a reasonably prudent
person would indicate the existence of an emergency, no such notice
shall be required.
The emergency so declared shall be deemed to continue for a period of 72 hours unless terminated earlier by the Supervisor of the Town of New Castle or the Town official designated by him in accordance with § 123-50 hereof. Termination of the emergency may be declared as to one or more streets prior to the end of the seventy-two-hour period or the complete emergency terminated as aforesaid.
After the declaration of an emergency and the
giving of public notice as aforesaid, or during an emergency when
no public notice is required, it shall be unlawful for the owner or
driver of a motor vehicle to cause, permit, allow or suffer said vehicle
to be parked or to be left unattended on the traveled way or paved
portion of any street or highway in the Town of New Castle, or designated
portion thereof, during the period of the emergency as aforesaid.
Where the driver of such vehicle cannot be located, the violation
of this provision shall be presumed to be that of the registered owner
of the vehicle.
The provisions of § 123-53 aforesaid shall not apply to physicians on emergency call, emergency vehicles, snow-control vehicles, public vehicles of service or ambulances on emergency call.
[Amended 9-10-2002 by L.L. No. 8-2002]
Any vehicle parked or abandoned on a public
highway in the Town of New Castle during a public emergency as may
be declared by the provisions of this article may be removed by or
under the direction of the Chief of Police or the Superintendent of
Highways and stored in any suitable place. The Chief of Police and
the Superintendent of Highways are authorized to use Town equipment,
if available, and if not, are authorized to lease from others and
contract for tow trucks and other necessary equipment required for
such purpose. Such vehicles shall be released only to the owner or
his duly authorized agent upon the production of proof of ownership
satisfactory to the Chief of Police and upon production of proof of
payment of the reasonable expenses and charges for such removal and
storage. Charges for such removal shall be as set forth by resolution
of the Town Board in the Master Fee Schedule, which may be amended,
and storage charges shall as set forth by resolution of the Town Board
in the Master Fee Schedule, which may be amended. A report of the
removal and disposition of such vehicle shall be made to the Police
Department, and it shall be the duty of the Police Department to ascertain
the owner of such vehicle or person having same in charge and to notify
him of the removal and disposition of such vehicle and the amount
which will be required to redeem same. The reasonable charges for
removal and storage shall be paid to the Town Clerk by the owner or
his agent and shall be deposited to the credit of the appropriate
Town account.
[Amended 6-12-2007 by L.L. No. 10-2007; 3-29-2016 by L.L. No. 3-2016]
A.
A violation of any of the provisions of this article shall be punishable
by a fine of $25 for the first offense, $100 for the second offense
within one year and $250 for the third and subsequent offense within
one year. There shall be a rebuttable presumption that the owner of
a vehicle was the operator of such vehicle at the time of the issuance
of a summons for a violation in connection with any provision of this
chapter relating to parking of a motor vehicle. This presumption may
be rebutted by credible evidence that the owner was not in possession
or control of the vehicle at the time it was parked.
B.
Any fine imposed pursuant to this § 123-56 which remains unpaid for a period exceeding 30 days from the date of issuance of a summons or, in the case of a trial or pretrial conference, after conviction, shall be increased to twice the amount of the original fine imposed. Any fine which remains unpaid for a period exceeding 60 days after the date of issuance of the summons or, in the case of a trial or pretrial conference, after conviction, shall be increased to triple the amount of the original fine imposed.
If any part or parts of this article are, for
any reason, held to be invalid, such decision of invalidity shall
not affect the validity of the remaining portion of this article.
B.
All ordinances, local laws and resolutions or parts
of or-dinances, local laws or resolutions of this Town in conflict
or inconsistent with this article are hereby repealed, except that
this repeal shall not prevent the prosecution or punishment of any
person for any act done or committed in violation of any ordinance
or local law repealed prior to the taking effect of this article.
This article shall take effect upon filing with
the Secretary of Traffic Flow Pattern
