(a) As used in this section:
(1) A “person with disability” entitled to consideration for a residential handicapped parking permit/space means any person who:
A. Meets the criteria for receipt of a handicapped license plate and/or placard from the State of West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles; and
B. Has received such a license plate and/or placard from the State of West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles, which plate and/or placard, along with identification verifying he/she is the person entitled to use of the plate and/or placard.
C. Owns a properly registered motor vehicle capable of transporting said person with disability, or can demonstrate that such a vehicle is owned by an adult resident of the same residential dwelling as said person with disability.
(2) Adequate “off-street parking” includes, but is not limited to: private driveways, garage entrances, and the presence of an empty lot adjacent or in close proximity to the person’s property, which is reasonably accessible to the person with a disability’s home or dwelling, provided that it shall be the responsibility of the person with a disability to provide evidence, medical or otherwise, that the off-street parking is not “reasonably accessible”.
(b) A person with disability shall be entitled to consideration for a residential handicapped parking permit/space if the City Traffic Commission determines, after an on-site inspection by any professional rehabilitation consultant with whom the City Traffic Commission has entered into a consulting agreement, that all four of the following criteria are met:
(1) No adequate off-street parking is available which accommodates that person’s disability; and
(2) The resident lives in an heavily populated area such that inadequate parking exists to accommodate the person’s disability, absent provision of a handicapped permit/space; and
(3) No other alternative method of parking exists to accommodate the person’s need, absent provision of a handicapped permit/space; and
(4) No other handicapped permit/space is already available in proximity to the person’s property.
(c) At all times, any person with a disability utilizing a residential handicapped space must display the permit allowing appropriate usage of the residential handicapped space. A current handicapped license plate and/or placard provided by the State of West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles shall be sufficient permit.
(d) Any space or permit enacted pursuant to this section shall expire thirty-six months from its date of approval. Nothing in this subsection shall prevent the person with a disability from making application for renewal of the handicapped space/permit, on the same criteria as set forth herein.
(e) In any event, no person with a disability shall park in a designated residential handicapped parking space for longer than seventy-two consecutive hours. Vehicles which are parked in such spaces for longer than seventy-two consecutive hours may be ticketed and/or towed. (Ord. 04-6. Passed 4-15-04.)