Loading...
TC Ord. No. 1987-04ORDINANCE NO. 87-4 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE MUNICIPAL CODE OF THE- TOWN OF.AVON tY THE ADDITION OF SECTIONS 10.14.010 THROUGH 10.14.100 AS IT PERTAINS TO PARKING AND IMPOUNDMENT OF VEHICLES. Section 1. Amendment. Title 10 of the Municipal Code of the Town of Avon is amended by the addi- tion of Sections 10.14.010 through 10.14.100 as follows: 10.14.010 Parking To Obstruct Traffic. No person shall park any vehicle upon a street or at any other place within this municipality in such a manner or under such conditions as to interfere with the free movement of vehicular traffic or proper street or highway maintenance. 10.14.020 Compliance Required.- On any street or at any place within this munici- pality, including, without limitation, within municipally owned or operated parking lots, where official signs are posted giving notice of stop- ping or standing restrictions or prohibitions, no person shall stop, stand or park a vehicle in any manner in violation of -the provisions contained on such sign or signs except when necessary to avoid conflict with other traffic, or in compliance with the directions of a police officer or official traffic-control device. 10.14.030 Impoundment--Authorized. Whenever any police officer finds a vehicle, attended or unattended, standing upon any portion of a street or upon any place within this munici- pality in such a manner as to constitute a vio- lation of any section of this chapter, or left unattended for a period of twenty four hours or more and presumed to be abandoned under the conditions prescribed'by 42-4-1601 et. seq. C.R.S., 1973, as amended, the officer shall require the vehicle to be removed or cause it to be removed and placed in storage in the nearest garage or other place of safety designated or maintained by this municipality, and the charges for towing and storage of such vehicle shall be charged to the owner of the vehicle in addition to a ten dollar,impoundment charge. 10.14.040 Impoundment--Notice. A. Whenever a police officer or any employee of the town so authorized removes a vehicle and causes .it to be impounded as authorized by law, and the officer or other employee knows or is able to ascertain from the registration or other records in the vehicle or otherwise, the name of the owner and address of the owner, the officer or employee shall immediately give or.cause to be given notice in writing to the owner of the fact of the removal, the reason for it and the place to which the vehicle has been removed. B. As to any vehicle impounded pursuant to this chapter by or at the request of the Town of Avon;' its agents or employees, a person who has legal entitlement to possession of the vehicle has a right to a "post-seizure" administrative hearing to determine whether there was probable cause to impound the vehicle., If such person files .a written demand, on forms so-provided for such a hearing,'i7ith the town within ten days after such person has learned such vehicle has been impounded or within ten days after the mailing date set in the notice of stored vehicle, whichever occurs first. The notice of stored vehicle shall be sent in the mail to the legal and registered owner or other agent within seventy-two hours excluding weekends and holidays, after the impounding and storage of the vehicle. C. A hearing shall be conducted before a hearing officer designated by the town-manager within ten days of receipt of a written demand therefore from the person seeking the hearing, unless such person waives the right to speedy hearing. Saturdays,, Sundays, and town holidays are to be excluded from the calculation of the ten day period. The hearing officer shall be someone other than the person that directed the impounding and storage of the vehicle. The sole question before the hearing officer shall be whether there was probable cause to impound the,vehicle in question. "Probable cause'to impound" shall mean such a state of facts as would lead a person of ordinary care and prudence to believe that there was sufficient breach of local, state or federal law to grant legal authority for the removal of the vehicle. The hearing officer shall conduct the hearing in an informal manner and shall not be bound by technical rules of evidence. The-person demanding the hearing shall carry the burden of establishing that such person has the right to possession of the vehicle. The police department shall have the burden of establishing that there was probable cause to impound the vehicle in question. At the conclusion of the hearing, the hearing officer shall prepare a written decision. A copy of such decision shall be provided to the person demanding the hearing and the registered owner of the vehicle (if not the person requesting the hear- ing). The hearing officer's decision in no way affects any criminal proceeding in connection with the impounding question' or -any criminal charges involved in such proceeding may,only-be challenged in-the appropriate court.I The-,decision of the -hearing officer is final. Failure of the regis- tered or legal owner or their agent to request or .attend a-scheduled,post storage hearing-shall be _deemed a--waiver of the right to such hearing. D. The hearing officer shall only determine that as to the vehicle in issue either (a) there was probable cause to impound the vehicle, or (b) there was no such probable cause. In the event that the hearing officer determines that there was no probable cause, the hearing officer shall prepare and date a certificate of no probable cause, copies of which shall be given to the • possessor of the vehicle and the police depart- ment. Upon receipt of the possessor's copy of such certificate, the official police, garage or impound lot having custody of the vehicle shall release the vehicle to its possessor. Upon the finding of no probable cause, towing and storage fees shall be paid by'the town in accordance with the arrangements made between the town and the official police garage or impound lot. If the possessor fails to present such certificate to the impound lot or official police garage having custody of the vehicle within twenty-four hours of its receipt, excluding such days when the official police garage or impound lot is not open for business, the possessor shall assume liability for all subsequent storage charges. Such certifi- cate shall advise the possessor of such require- ment. 10.14.050 Impoundment - Notice to state. Whenever an officer or employee of the town removes a vehicle from a public way and does not know or is not able to ascertain the name of the owner thereof, or for any other reason is unable to give the notice to the owner as provided in Section 10.14.040, and in the event the vehicle is not returned to the owner within a period of three days,-the town manager shall immediately send or cause to be sent a written report of the removal by mail to the state department whose duty it is to register motor vehicles. The notice shall include a complete description of the vehicle, the date, time and place of removal, the reasons-for the removal, and the name of the garage or other place where the vehicle is stored, with a request that the owner of the vehicle be notified immedi- ately. 10.14.060 Impoundment - Disposal. A. Whenever, pursuant to the terms of this chapter, a vehicle has been impounded by the town for a period of thirty days and no claim of . ownership or the right to possession thereof has been made, or when a claim has been made but not established to the satisfaction of the town manager, and no suitor action to determine the claim has been instituted,'the town manager may dispose of the vehicle in the manner set out in subsection B. B. The town manager shall cause written notice to be given to all persons known by-him to claim an.interest.in the vehicle.- The notice shall be given by delivery in person, or by registered mail, addressed to the last known'address of the business or residence of the person to be no- tified.. The notice shall contain the following: 1. An itemized statement of the amount due to the town for removal of and:storage of the vehi- cle, showing the amount due at the time of notice; 2. A description of the vehicle; 3 • 0 3. A demand that the amount due the town, as stated in the notice, and such further claims as shall accrue, shall be paid and the right to possession of the vehicle be established to the satisfaction of the town manager on or before'a date mentioned, being not less than ten days from the delivery of the notice if it is personally delivered, or from the date of registration of the letter, and statement that unless the amount due the town is paid and the right to.possession of the vehicle is established to the satisfaction of the town manager within the time specified, the vehicle will be advertised for sale and sold at a specified time and place. 10.14.070 Impoundment. In accordance with the terms of the notice provided for in Section 10.14.060 B.3, a sale of the vehicle may be had to satisfy the claim of the town for the storage and removal of the vehicle and to discharge the town from further respon- sibility in connection with the "vehicle and from any duty to further retain or store the vehicle. The sale shall be held at the place where the vehicle is stored or impounded or, if it is manifestly unsuitable for the purpose, at the nearest suitable place. After the time for the payment of the claim and the establishment to the satisfaction of the town manager of the right to possession of the vehicle has elapsed and notice was given as required, an advertisement of the sale,:describing the vehicle to be sold and stating the names of all persons known by the town manager to claim an interest in.the vehicle, if any,•and theitime and place.'of the sale, shall be published once a week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper published in the county. The sale shall be held not less.than.fifteen days from the date of the first publication. 10.14.080 Impoundment - Proceeds of sale. From the proceeds of the sale provided for in Section 10.14.070, the town manager shall satisfy the claim of the town for the charges for removal and storage of the vehicle, and for the reasonable charges or expenses for or of the notice, ad- vertising and sale. The balance, if any, of the proceeds will be paid into the treasury of the town and appropriated to the general fund. No claim for refund shall be made by an person entitled to it except if the claim is made within one year from the date of any sale resulting in the payment of any such proceeds into the trea- sury. A claim for refund shall be made to the town manager,_who shall make athorough exam- ination of the claim. The failure on the part of any person to request the initiation of a refund to him within one year from the date of sale shall be conclusive of the fact that he has no meritori- ous claim for the refund within the set period of one year from the date of sale and he shall not thereafter commence any action, suit or proceeding whatsoever to obtain the refund and the town shall be under no liability to-him whatsoever-by-reason of the sale for the payment of any part of the proceeds of the sale or the.entire proceeds of the sale in the treasury of the town. 4 0 • 10.14.090 Impoundment - Sale to town. When any vehicle is offered for sale pursuant to the terms of this chapter and there is no bid or offered bid for the vehicle, the town manager shall declare the vehicle to be sold to the town for the amount of the charges-for the removal and storage of the vehicle, and the charges and expenses of notice, advertisement, and sale, and shall place the vehicle in the custody of such department of the town as he in his sole dis- cretion may determine, For the sole benefit and use of the town. 10.14.100 Impoundment - No right of redemption. There shall be no right of redemption from' any sale made,pursuant to the terms of this chapter, and after a vehicle has been sold pur- suant to such terms, neither the town nor any officer, agent or employee-of'the town shall be liable for failure to deliver the vehicle to anyone other than the purchaser or purchasers at the sale. Section.2. Severability. If any part, section, sentence, clause or phrase of this Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Ordinance; and the Town-Council for the Town of Avon hereby declares it would have passed this ordinance and each part, section, sub-section', sentence, clause or"phrase thereof, irrespec- tive of the fact that any one or more parts, sections, sub-sections, sentences, clauses or phrases be declared invalid. INTRODUCED, PASSED ON FIRST READING,.APPROVED AND- ORDERED POSTED, this 27th day of January , 1987, and a public hearing on this Ordinance shall be held at the regular meeting-of the Town Council of the Town of Avon, Colorado, on the loth day of February , 1987, at 7:30 P.M. in the Municipal Building of the Town o Avon, Colorado. ller, Mayor Pro Tem INTRODUCED, PASSED ON SECOND READING, APPROVED AND ORDERED POSTED this loth day of February , 1987. Allan R. Nottsrigham, ayor ORDNC3 5 STATE OF COLORADO ) COUNTY OF EAGLE ) SS TOWN OF AVON ) E NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN OF A PUBLIC HEARING BEFORE THE TOWN COUNCIL OF THE TOWN OF AVON, COLORADO, AT 7:30 P.M. ON THE 10TH DAY OF FEBRUARY, 1987, AT THE TOWN HALL, FOR THE PURPOSE OF CONSIDERING THE ADOPTION OF ORDINANCE NO. 87-4 SERIES OF 1987: AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE MUNICIPAL CODE OF THE TOWN OF AVON BY THE ADDITION OF SECTIONS 10.14.010 THROUGH 10.14.100 AS IT PERTAINS TO PARKING AND IMPOUNDMENT OF VEHICLES. A copy of said Ordinance is attached hereto, and is also on file at the office of the Town Clerk, and may be inspected during regular business hours. Following this hearing, the Council may consider final passage of this Ordinance. This notice is given and published by order of the Town Council of the Town of Avon. Dated this 27th day of January, 1987. POSTED AT THE FOLLOWING PUBLIC PLACES WITHIN THE TOWN OF AVON ON JANUARY 28, 1987: THE AVON POST OFFICE IN THE MAIN LOBBY THE CITY MARKET IN THE MAIN LOBBY PESTER GAS STATION; AND THE MUNICIPAL BUILDING IN THE MAIN LOBBY