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GENERAL PROVISIONS
In any prosecution charging a violation of any ordinance or regulation governing the standing or parking of a vehicle, proof that the particular vehicle described in the complaint was parked in violation of any such ordinance or regulation, together with proof that the defendant named in the complaint was, at the time of such parking, the registered owner of such vehicle, shall constitute in evidence a prima facie presumption that the registered owner of such vehicle was the person who parked or placed such vehicle at the point where, and for the time during which, such violation occurred.
(1998 Code, § 118-221)
(A) (1) Vehicles subject to impoundment. Any vehicle which shall be or remain standing or parked upon any public street, avenue, way, alley or other public place may be removed by or upon order of the Chief of Police and placed in storage in a privately operated garage or other place designated by or maintained by the city, under the following circumstances:
(a) When any vehicle is found upon a street, avenue, alley, way or public place and a report has been previously made that the vehicle has been stolen or complaint has been filed and a warrant issued thereon, charging that the vehicle has been stolen or converted in violation of law;
(b) When any police officer of the city has reasonable grounds to believe that any vehicle has been abandoned;
(c) When a police officer arrests any person driving or in control of a vehicle for an alleged offense and such officer is or may be required by law to take the person arrested immediately before a magistrate, or if the arrested person is immediately taken before a Magistrate, and when the arrested person is the sole occupant or the owner of the vehicle and is immediately placed in custody;
(d) When a vehicle is so disabled that its normal operation is impossible or impractical and the persons in charge of the vehicle are incapacitated by reason of physical injury or other causes to such an extent as to be unable to provide for its removal or custody, or cannot be found or are not in the immediate vicinity of the vehicle; and/or
(e) When any vehicle is left standing or parked unattended in violation of any applicable provisions of this traffic code, state law or city ordinance, rule or regulation; provided, however, that, if the vehicle is parked or standing immediately in front of or immediately adjacent to property owned by the owner of the vehicle, or property rented by the owner, before the vehicle shall be removed, the owner thereof shall be given reasonable notice to remove or cause to be removed the vehicle.
(2) Reclaiming by owner. In order to obtain possession of a vehicle stored under the provisions of this section, the claimant must produce satisfactory evidence of ownership or right to possession within 30 days from the date of the storage and, in addition thereto, must pay all charges for storage and removal of the vehicle, in addition to any fine.
(B) The provisions of division (A) above shall not be construed to relieve from or lessen the responsibility of any person who shall leave his or her vehicle parked on the streets of the city in such a manner that the vehicle may be impounded, nor shall the city be held as assuming any such liability by reason of impounding or causing to be impounded the vehicle.
(1998 Code, § 118-223)
Statutory reference:
Removal of illegally parked vehicles, see Tex. Transportation Code § 545.305
(A) Erection of signs.
(1) The Director of Transportation and Planning is hereby directed to erect signs where limitations on parking on streets and avenues in the city are in effect, giving notice of the parking regulations.
(2) No citation, as provided for in this section, shall be issued alleging a violation of this section until after the street or avenue where the violation occurred has been equipped with such signs as specified in this division (A).
(B) Issuance of citations.
(1) The Chief of Police shall cause such streets and avenues to be regularly patrolled and traffic citations to be issued notifying alleged violators to appear and answer charges of alleged violations in the Municipal Court.
(2) If a violation occurs, the citation shall be attached to the vehicle.
(3) The citation shall direct the violator to appear in the Municipal Court within ten days, during the hours specified in the citation.
(C) Court appearance.
(1) If the owner of the vehicle does not appear in response to a traffic citation affixed to the motor vehicle within such ten-day period, the Clerk of the Municipal Court shall send a letter to the owner, informing him or her of the violation and warning him or her that, if he or she fails to appear in Court within ten days from the date of the letter, a warrant of arrest will be issued. All notices shall be addressed to the name and address given on the license registration receipt for the vehicle to which the citation was originally attached.
(2) If the alleged violator fails to comply with a traffic citation attached to a vehicle, and fails to make an appearance pursuant to the letter written to him or her by the Clerk of the Municipal Court directing his or her appearance in the Court, the Clerk of the Municipal Court shall secure and issue a warrant for his or her arrest.
(1998 Code, § 118-225)
Editor’s note:
Exhibit A, referred to in this section, is not included herein, but is available for inspection at the offices of the city.
(A) In all city-owned or city-controlled property used for parking, there shall be designated one or more parking spaces or a parking area for the exclusive use of vehicles transporting temporary or permanently disabled persons.
(B) The city shall designate a space or area for the exclusive use of vehicles transporting temporarily or permanently disabled persons by conforming to the rules promulgated by the state purchasing and general services commission under Tex. Transportation Code Ch. 681.
(C) All private property owners or persons who control property used for parking shall be required to conform to the identification and dimension requirements contained in the rules promulgated by the state purchasing and general services commission under Tex. Transportation Code Ch. 681, when designating a parking space or area for the disabled.
(D) A person commits an offense under the provisions of this section if the person is neither temporarily or permanently disabled, nor transporting a temporarily or permanently disabled person, and parks a vehicle with the special device or displaying a disabled person identification card as specified by Tex. Transportation Code § 681.003 in a parking space or parking area designated specifically for the disabled by the city or by a person who owns or controls private property used for parking as provided in division (C) above.
(E) A person commits an offense under the provisions of this section if the person parks a vehicle neither displaying the special device, nor displaying a disabled person identification card as specified by Tex. Transportation Code § 681.003, in a parking space or parking area designated specifically for the disabled by the city or by a person who owns or controls private property for parking as provided by division (C) above.
(1998 Code, § 118-226) Penalty, see § 10.99
No person driving or in charge of a motor vehicle shall permit it to stand unattended without first stopping the engine and effectively setting the brakes thereon and, when standing upon any grade, turning the front wheels to the curb or side of the roadway.
(1998 Code, § 118-227) Penalty, see § 10.99
No person shall start a vehicle which is stopped, standing or parked unless and until the movement can be made with safety.
(1998 Code, § 118-228) Penalty, see § 10.99
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