(a) Except in a period of emergency determined by an officer of the Divisions of Fire or Police, or in compliance with the directions of a police officer or traffic control sign or signal, when any vehicle is parked in any parking space to which a parking meter assigned, the operator of such vehicle shall, upon entering the parking meter space, immediately make or cause to be made in the meter such proper payment as is required for such parking meter and as is designated by proper directions on the meter, and when required by the directions on the meter, the operator of such vehicle, after making the proper payment, shall also set in operation the timing mechanism on such meter in accordance with directions properly appearing thereon, and failure to make such proper payment, and to set the timing mechanism in operation when so required, shall constitute a violation of this section. Upon making of such proper payment (and the setting of the timing mechanism in operation when so required) the parking space may be lawfully occupied by such vehicle during the period of time which has been prescribed for the part of the street in which the parking space is located. Any person placing a vehicle in a parking meter space assigned to a meter which indicates that unused time has been left in the meter by the previous occupant of the space shall not be required to make a proper payment so long as his occupancy of such space does not exceed the indicated unused parking time. If such vehicle remains parked in any such parking space beyond the parking time limit set for such parking space, and if the meter indicates such illegal parking, then such vehicle shall be considered as parking overtime and beyond the period of legal parking time, and such parking shall be deemed a violation of this section.
(b) As used in this section, "proper payment" means payment by U.S. currency, a credit card transaction, a cellular phone application, any combination of them, or any other method as designated by directions on the meter. (Ord. 37-17. Passed 7-2-2018.)