Notes
| 341 | Added, 1989 Ordinances, p. 72. Section 4 of the 1989 Ordinance provides: "This Ordinance shall take effect upon the effective date of the regulations issued by the Director of Finance pursuant to the new subsection 12-2802(1) of The Philadelphia Code added by Section 1 of this Ordinance. The Director of Finance shall issue such regulations within one hundred twenty (120) days of the date of final passage of this Ordinance." The subject regulations were effective June 30, 1989. |
The Council of the City of Philadelphia hereby finds:
(1) That the City of Philadelphia, in the exercise of its police powers to regulate parking, stopping and standing of vehicles within the City of Philadelphia, has enacted the comprehensive Traffic Code which was intended to provide a rational system for the enforcement of parking regulations, promote public safety and convenience, provide for the unencumbered flow of traffic and transit operations, and enhance economic activity by ensuring an adequate supply of short-term curbside parking;
(2) That since 1981, several blue ribbon panels have concluded that the current system of parking violation enforcement within the criminal justice system has resulted in the improper and inefficient allocation of parking violation enforcement responsibility between the judiciary and the executive branch of Philadelphia City government; the absence of centralized and uniform parking policymaking in the City; an unmanageable volume of cases in the Traffic Court; unfairness to citizens caused by the threat and stigma of a criminal sanction, unreasonable delays between the issuance of a citation and its adjudication in court, and an unpredictable process for contesting citations; and an inefficient system for the collection of parking fines;
(3) That the City of Philadelphia, pursuant to its police powers and pertinent provisions of the Pennsylvania Motor Vehicle Code, is authorized to provide for parking violation enforcement outside of the criminal justice system, and an administrative process for the adjudication of parking violations is an efficient, fair and reasonable alternative thereto;
(4) That the City of Philadelphia, pursuant to the authority granted it by Section 345 of the Parking Authority Law (53 P.S. §§ 341 et seq.) has, by Ordinance No. 1633 approved April 8, 1983, delegated to the Philadelphia Parking Authority certain powers relating to the administration, supervision and enforcement of on-street parking regulations and the collection on behalf of the City of fines and penalties imposed in connection with the violation of parking regulations; and
(5) That a system of administrative adjudication of parking violations should provide for the proper separation of the administrative and executive functions from the adjudicatory function in the enforcement process; establish a unified and comprehensive parking management system; provide for coordinated parking policymaking; promote a fair, uniform and expeditious system for the disposition of parking violations; and increase the collection of parking program revenues.
(1) The Director of Finance shall have the power and duty, unless otherwise provided by this Title, to provide by regulation for the hearing and determination of cases involving alleged violations of provisions of this Title 12 ("Traffic Code") relating to parking, for the imposition of civil penalties, costs and additional fees for such violations, and for the acceptance of payment for such penalties, costs and additional fees, including installment payments with installment payment fees and payments by credit cards, all in accordance with all provisions of this Chapter.
(2) The Director of Finance shall appoint such Parking Hearing Examiners and such other persons as shall be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Chapter.
(3) In enacting this Chapter, the Council recognizes the Mayor's executive order creating a Parking Adjudication Advisory Panel, and in accordance with the provisions of that order, the Finance Director shall, after the final enactment of this Chapter, convene the advisory panel of public officials and private citizens to review proposed rules and regulations covering the adjudication process and to review from time to time the administration of the process to insure its fairness and consistency with legislative intent and with the City's parking management program.
In addition to such other functions, powers and duties as have been delegated to the Philadelphia Parking Authority (the "Parking Authority") by statute or ordinance, or by other provisions of this Chapter, the Parking Authority shall have the following functions, powers and duties in connection with the administrative adjudication system established by this Chapter:
(1) To receive and process answers to charges of alleged violations and to refer contested answers to the Finance Director's Office for hearing and determination;
(2) To provide administrative, cashiering and data processing support to the Finance Director's Office and to compile and maintain complete and accurate records relating to all charges, dispositions made and payments received by the Finance Director's Office; and
(3) To send notices, as required, on behalf of the Finance Director's Office, of orders determining liability, notices to appear, decisions and other actions of the Finance Director's Office.
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