(a) When a motor vehicle bearing registration plates or displaying a placard issued to handicapped persons or disabled veterans as prescribed in the Vehicle Code is being operated by or for the transportation of the handicapped person or disabled veteran, the driver shall be relieved of any liability for parking for the period of 60 minutes in excess of the legal parking period permitted, except where local ordinances or police regulations provide for the accommodation of heavy traffic during morning, afternoon or evening hours.
(b) At the request of any handicapped person or disabled veteran, local authorities may erect on a street, as close as possible to his or her place of residence, a sign indicating that that place is reserved for a handicapped person or disabled veteran, that no parking is allowed there by others and that any unauthorized person parking there shall be subject to a fine.
(c) The Director of Finance, along with the Police Chief and the City Manager, are hereby authorized to issue permits for the establishment and use of handicapped zones upon proper application being made therefore, and upon payment of a fee, as set forth in this section. The handicapped zone and appropriate signage will be installed after payment of a fee established by resolution of City Council and amended from time to time. An annual maintenance fee will be assessed by resolution of City Council and amended from time to time. The applicant will also pay for the time and material needed to install proper signs.
(d) All handicapped zones will be renewed each year by application submitted to the Director of Finance who, in conjunction with the Police Chief and the City Manager, will determine if the handicapped zone shall be renewed. The application for renewal must be accompanied by proof of disability or handicap. Applicable proof must consist of evidence of a Commonwealth of Pennsylvania handicapped plate, written proof from a physician of the condition or a State-issued placard.
(e) Handicapped zone permits will be issued only in residential areas of the City and there will be a restriction placed on the assigning of spaces covered by this section in the Central Business District, where parking meters are enforced.
(f) If a meter is removed for the issuance of a Handicapped Zone, the cost of that meter’s lost revenue will not be charged to the person being granted the Handicapped Zone. However, no Handicapped Zones will be issued in the Central Business District.
(Ord. 4320. Passed 11-22-83; Ord. 4843. Passed 12-22-99; Ord. 4883. Passed 4-24-02; Ord. 4918. Passed 9-24-03; Ord. 5323. Passed 12-8-21.)