(a) No driver of a vehicle shall stop, park or leave standing unattended any vehicle on a private road or driveway or on private property without having express or implied permission from the owner, tenant or lessee of such land. The owner, tenant or lessee of such private road or driveway or private property may move, or have moved, any vehicle stopped, parked or left standing unattended on his or her private road, driveway or private property as above prohibited without any liability for the cost of moving any vehicle, nor shall he or she be liable to the owner of the vehicle for any damage done to such vehicle in moving it, unless the owner, tenant or lessee of such private road or driveway or private property was negligent in removing or authorizing the removal of the vehicle. The owner of such vehicle shall be responsible to the persons removing such vehicle for paying all removal costs. Any person who removes any vehicle under the provisions of this section shall notify the State Police of such action, and, in addition notify the Police Department.
(WVaC 17C-14-13)
(WVaC 17C-14-13)
(b) When private property has been designated as available for the limited use of the public by the posting of signs such as “Parking for Customers Only”, “Customer Parking”, “Customer Parking While Shopping in Store”, or signs of similar designation giving clear notice of the intent of the owner/lessee of the property to limit the use of the property, it shall be unlawful to park a vehicle on such property except in conformity with the posted restrictions. Upon conviction, violators shall be fined $25.00.
If a violator shall continue to park on such posted lot after a specific written or oral request by the owner/lessee of the private property, or his designated agent or employee, to the operator of the vehicle unlawfully parked thereon to move the vehicle off of the lot, said vehicle operator shall be guilty of trespass and shall be fined for the first such offense $50.00 and for a second or subsequent offense, $100.00 for each offense.
The criminal penalties in this subsection shall be in addition to the remedy in subsection (a) hereof and nothing contained in this subsection shall be construed to prevent the owner/lessee from exercising the right to remove the vehicle as provided for in subsection (a) hereof.
(5-21-96)