CHAPTER 486
Fire Hydrants and Fire Lanes
486.01   Fire hydrants.
486.02   Fire lane requirements.
486.03   Enforcement.
486.04   Violations; procedure.
486.99   Penalty.
   CROSS REFERENCES
   Parking to block access to premises - see Code of Va. § 46.2-818
   Parking near fire hydrants - see Code of Va. §§ 46.2-1239, 46.2-1306
   Fire prevention - see F.P. Ch. 1602
486.01   FIRE HYDRANTS.
   (a)   No person shall park a motor vehicle or place any other object within fifteen feet of either side of a fire hydrant used or to be used for fire protection when such hydrant is located on private property, except that sign or fence posts, shrubbery and protective bollards shall not be within three feet of any such hydrant.
   (b)   Where fire hydrants are located at or close to a curb line or the edge of a road and face on a public parking lot or private road open to public use, no person shall park a motor vehicle or place any other object within fifteen feet of such hydrants. Further, no person shall park a motor vehicle or place any other object within an area perpendicular to the curb line or the edge of the roadway within fifteen feet of such a hydrant extending to the centerline of the roadway, or, if in a cul-de-sac or court, to the point where the cul-de-sac or court intersects with the street. Sign or fence posts, shrubbery and protective bollards shall not be placed within three feet of any such hydrant.
   (c)   (EDITOR'S NOTE: Subsection (c) was repealed by Ordinance 93-13, passed November 17, 1993.)
(Ord. 93-13. Passed 11-17-93.)
   (d)   No person shall use, tamper with, damage or destroy any fire hydrant, valve or water distribution main, except that any legally constituted fire department may use such fire hydrants for fire-fighting or training purposes.
   (e)   The Fire Marshal, Assistant Fire Marshals, or any law enforcement officer of the County shall have the power to enforce the provisions of this section, to issue tickets and citations for violations of any of such provisions and to remove by towing or otherwise, or make arrangements to remove or tow, any vehicle or other object parked within fifteen feet of either side of a fire hydrant, with all costs of such towing or removal to be paid by the person violating any of such provisions.
(Ord. 09-18. Passed 12-7-09.)
486.02   FIRE LANE REQUIREMENTS.
   (a)   Pursuant to the Virginia Statewide Fire Prevention Code (the “SFPC”). as adopted in Section 1602.01 of the Codified Ordinances of Loudoun County, the Fire Marshal, or his/her designated agent, shall designate certain public and private roadways as Fire Apparatus Access Roads and may require such roadways to be identified as fire lanes.
   (b)   The Fire Marshal, or his/her designated agent, shall require the owner or person in possession of property on which one or more Fire Apparatus Access Roads are designated to submit plans for approval of such designated Fire Apparatus Access Roads consistent with the Fire Lane Identification requirements of Chapter 4 of the Loudoun County Facilities Standards Manual, and to construct and install such Fire Lane Identification pursuant to the approved plans. Any fire lane signs installed shall conform to the following design requirements, as modified by the provisions of Chapter 4 of the Loudoun County Facilities Standards Manual:
      (1)   Each such sign shall be of metal construction, with dimensions of at least twelve by eighteen inches.
      (2)   Each such sign shall show red letters on a white background, with a three-eighths inch red trim strip around the entire outer edge of the sign, the lettering to be “No Parking or Standing” in at least two-inch high letters and “Fire Lane” in at least two and one-half inch high letters and containing arrows on such signs to point to and indicate the fire lane area.
      (3)   Posts for such signs, where required by the Fire Marshal, shall be securely mounted.
      (4)   (EDITOR'S NOTE: Paragraph (b)(4) was repealed by Ordinance 93-13, passed November 17, 1993.)
      (5)   Each sign shall be mounted seven feet from grade level to the top of the sign and must be within seven feet of the parking curb or curb line.
   (c)   No person shall park any vehicle of any classification, in any manner, in any area or portion of an area designated as a fire lane pursuant to this section, or in any way place or allow any object to obstruct an area designated as a fire lane pursuant to this section. The Fire Marshal, Assistant Fire Marshals or any law enforcement officer of the County, including deputies of the Sheriff's Department, shall have the power to enforce the provisions of this section, to issue tickets and citations for violations of any of such provisions and to remove or make arrangements to remove any vehicle or other object obstructing any area designated as a fire lane, with all costs of such towing or removal to be paid by the person violating any of such provisions.
(Ord. Unno. Passed 5-1-73; Ord. 93-13. Passed 11-17-93; Ord. 09-18. Passed 12-7-09.)
486.03   ENFORCEMENT.
   (a)   The law enforcement official charged with the duty of enforcing Sections 486.01 and 486.02 shall attach to a vehicle parked in violation of the provisions of such sections a Notice of Violation, indicating that such vehicle has been parked in violation of one of these sections.
   (b)   In any prosecution charging a violation of any of the provisions of this chapter or any rule or regulation promulgated hereunder, proof that the vehicle described in the complaint, summons, Notice of Violation, citation or warrant was parked in violation of this chapter, together with proof that the defendant was, at the time of such violation, a registered owner of the vehicle, shall constitute in evidence a prima-facie presumption that such registered owner was the person who parked the vehicle at the place where, and for the time during which, such violation occurred.
(Ord. 97-01. Passed 2-19-97.)
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