[Adopted 1-7-1997 as § 4-22 of the 1996 Revised General Ordinances]
Restricted parking spaces for handicapped persons in all parking
facilities under the jurisdiction of the City are hereby provided
pursuant to N.J.S.A. 39:4-138, as amended.
As used in this section, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
A physical impairment which confines a person to a wheelchair,
causes a person to walk with difficulty or insecurity, affects the
sight or hearing to the extent that a person functioning in public
areas is insecure or exposed to danger, causes faulty coordination
or reduces mobility, flexibility, coordination or perception to the
extent that facilities are needed to provide for the safety of that
person.
Any building, structure, facility or complex used by the
general public or to which the general public is invited, including,
but not limited to, theaters, concert halls, auditoriums, museums,
schools, libraries, recreation facilities, public transportation,
terminals and stations, factories, office buildings, businesses, shopping
centers, hotels or motels and public eating places, whether privately
or publicly owned, except that this term shall not include private
family residences, warehouse storage areas and all buildings conducting
hazardous occupations that involve highly combustible, highly flammable
or explosive material.
The owners of all public buildings which provide parking spaces
adjacent to or used in conjunction with the public building shall
provide parking spaces for handicapped persons in accordance with
the guidelines herein set forth and in a location and manner as determined
by the Chief of Police. Any parking facility with less than 20 existing
spaces shall be exempt from the provisions of this section.
The City shall have the authority to provide parking spaces
for handicapped persons in all parking lots or areas maintained by
it, pursuant to the applicable standards set forth herein.
Parking spaces for the physically handicapped shall be constructed
according to the following guidelines:
A.
A minimum of one percent of the total number of parking spaces in
the parking facility shall be used for handicapped parking; but there
shall be not less than one parking space in each such facility.
B.
The location of spaces for the physically handicapped shall be in
an area of the parking facility which is most accessible and proximate
to the building or buildings which the facility serves. The determination
of such location shall be made by the Chief of Police. In shopping
centers and other multistore facilities, the spaces for the handicapped
shall be as near to the flagship store as possible and/or at such
other locations as designated by the Chief of Police.
C.
Each space or group of spaces shall be identified with a clearly
visible sign displaying the international symbol of access. The lines
designating the area shall be painted with fluorescent yellow paint.
D.
Each space shall be 12 feet wide to allow room for persons in wheelchairs
or on braces or crutches to get in or out of either side of an automobile.
The parking space shall be located on a level, paved surface suitable
for wheeling and walking.
E.
Where possible, such spaces shall be located so that persons in wheelchairs
or using braces or crutches are not compelled to wheel or walk behind
parked cars.
F.
Where applicable, curb ramps shall be provided to permit handicapped
people access from the parking area to the sidewalk.
No persons shall park a vehicle in any parking space designated
and marked as being set aside for the physically handicapped in any
parking facility unless the operator of the vehicle is the holder
of an identification card issued pursuant to N.J.S.A. 39:4-205, and
such operator's vehicle shall have affixed thereto an identification
certificate or marker issued either by the Director of the New Jersey
Division of Motor Vehicles or a local certificate issued by the City.
Parking in a handicapped space without the aforesaid vehicle identification
shall create a rebuttable presumption that use of the space was not
for the physically handicapped.
The Director of Public Safety of the City, subject to review and approval by the Commissioners, shall issue, free of charge, a City special vehicle identification card to any physically disabled person, resident or nonresident, who may not qualify for such identification card under N.J.S.A. 39:4-204, but who does qualify under the definition of physical handicap in § 284-4 of this article. A physician's certification shall be necessary to establish the qualifying status of each applicant.
When the City designates a handicapped parking space in front
of a residential structure on thoroughfares within the City, the sign
designating the existence of such handicapped parking shall have placed
upon it the New Jersey motor vehicle license plate number of the vehicle
used by the handicapped person whom the City has approved handicapped
parking for. It shall be the responsibility of the person seeking
to have such handicapped parking to advise the City Clerk, Director
of Public Safety and Police Chief of any change in the New Jersey
motor vehicle license plate number from that on the original designation.
Failure to so advise shall leave the person subject to the violations
provisions of article, the City shall endeavor, to the best of its
ability and without promise, to place such New Jersey motor vehicle
license plate number on existing handicapped parking space designations.
Any person convicted of violating any provision of this article,
or any amendment or supplement thereto, shall be subject to the penalty
as set by the state for illegal parking in a handicapped parking space.
