A. Definitions: For purposes of this section, unless otherwise apparent from the context, certain words and phrases used in this section are defined as follows:
EXEMPT VEHICLE: A marked official vehicle or a nonmarked official vehicle used by the following persons:
1. City Department Directors.
2. City Council Members.
3. Operators of City fleet vehicles.
4. Designated City employees as determined by the Mayor or the Mayor's designee.
5. Designated employees or representatives of other governmental entities as determined by the Mayor or the Mayor's designee.
6. Emergency services personnel and employees of enforcement agencies.
7. Employees or representatives of quasi- governmental entities as determined by the Mayor or the Mayor's designee.
A personal vehicle may be considered an exempt vehicle if it is used by a person described above for official governmental or quasi-governmental purposes.
MARKED OFFICIAL VEHICLE: A vehicle owned or leased by a governmental or quasi-governmental entity that a representative of the entity uses in the course of the representative's official duties and that displays obvious official identification such as door symbols or light bars. A governmental or exempt license plate alone does not satisfy the obvious official identification requirement.
NONMARKED OFFICIAL VEHICLE: A vehicle, owned or leased by a governmental or quasi-governmental entity, without obvious official identification such as door symbols or light bars that a representative of the entity uses in the course of the representative's official duties, or a nonmarked vehicle for which the City previously issued an official vehicle sticker or placard.
B. Registration:
1. In order for a nonmarked official vehicle to become an exempt vehicle, it must be registered with the City's Compliance Director. The requesting agency's designated primary contact can initiate the registration process by contacting the Compliance Director's Office and following the guidelines for the vehicle registration process. Registration is not required for a marked official vehicle. A City department director may allow an individual City employee to register his or her personal vehicle as an exempt vehicle based on a documented need or requirement that will be included as part of the registration process.
2. As part of the online registration, the entity shall provide the following information:
a. Entity's name.
b. Name of entity's primary contact.
c. Telephone number of entity's primary contact.
d. E-mail address of entity's primary contact.
e. Vehicle make.
f. Vehicle model.
g. Vehicle color.
h. Vehicle license plate number.
i. Vehicle identification number.
j. Vehicle primary driver.
k. Reason why the vehicle should be classified as an exempt vehicle.
l. Days of the week when exempt status is required.
m. Location(s) in Salt Lake City where exempt status is needed.
3. As a part of the registration process, the City's Compliance Program Director shall review all requests and approve or deny exempt vehicle status. Upon approval or disapproval, the City shall notify the entity's primary contact of the approval or disapproval. Upon approval, the City shall include information about the registered exempt vehicle in the exempt vehicle database maintained in the City's Parking Enforcement Office. The exempt vehicle database shall contain the information necessary to enable parking enforcement personnel to identify an exempt vehicle when they enter the vehicle's license plate number in their enforcement handheld device and to confirm exempt vehicle status and any status limitations.
4. The City's Compliance Program Director or the Director's designee shall be responsible for reviewing and approving any specific limitations for exempt vehicles, which limitations may vary for each entity and each vehicle.
5. Exempt vehicles are subject to the generally applicable rules regarding restricted parking locations (such as handicap, no parking, bus lanes, and residential parking permit areas) and shall comply with nonparking related ordinances such as vehicle registration requirements. Exempt vehicles will not receive citations for violations of the following sections of this chapter: 12.56.150, "Parking Meters; Installation And Enforcement"; 12.56.180, "Parking Meters; Restricted Spaces"; 12.56.190, "Parking Meters; Overtime Parking Prohibited"; 12.56.300, "Residential Parking Lots Owned By The City"; 12.56.450, "Time Limited Parking On Certain Streets"; and 12.56.520, "Using Streets For Storage Prohibited". The City's parking enforcement personnel will also attempt to identify instances in which official vehicles are parked in violation of City ordinances due to unavoidable or emergency circumstances related to official duties. If the City's parking enforcement personnel are unable to identify the justification and rationale for an exempt vehicle being parked in a restricted parking location, then a citation shall be issued and the participating agency may establish justification for such parking violations before a Hearing Officer as part of a review process. Registered City exempt vehicles and City exempt vehicles used for emergency services are exempt from all parking ordinances.
C. Maintenance: A registered exempt vehicle shall remain exempt only if it undergoes an annual review and recertification process. The process shall be completed by the entity's primary contact using the same method that was used for the initial registration and shall be completed when the entity receives notification of completion from the City's Parking Enforcement Office. Parking enforcement's notification shall be sent by e-mail to the entity's primary contact. Approximately eleven (11) calendar months after the initial registration or recertification of an exempt vehicle, parking enforcement shall notify, by e-mail, the entity's primary contact of the need to recertify the vehicle. Vehicles that are not recertified by the thirteenth month after initial registration or recertification shall be automatically removed from the exempt vehicle database. An entity may submit to the City's Compliance Director requests for changes to exempt vehicle status, new requests, and changes to primary contact information, and the Compliance Director may make those changes. (Ord. 9-17, 2017)