(a) In order to facilitate the cleaning of the streets of the City and to expedite the free flow of vehicular traffic, motor vehicles shall not be parked on the streets of the City at such times as the Director of Public Safety declares a snow emergency to exist, which emergency shall be declared when the U.S. Weather Bureau records indicate that four inches of snow has fallen and that there is a prospect of further snowfall. All cars parked prior to the time weather conditions prohibited parking shall be removed by the owners or operators. Any motor vehicle parked in violation of this section shall be removed at the order of the Director within twelve hours of the heavy snowfall, and the owner or operator thereof shall be subject to the penalties provided in Sections 408.01, 408.02 and 452.16.
(b) Owners or operators of motor vehicles shall ascertain whether weather conditions require the removal of their motor vehicles and shall remove all cars parked in violation of this section. The City will make every effort to inform the public of the existence of weather conditions requiring the removal of parked automobiles. The owners and operators of motor vehicles parked in public streets in the City shall have full responsibility to determine existing weather conditions and to remove parked automobiles and other vehicles if the weather conditions are such as to require such removal under this section.
(c) If the U.S. Weather Bureau records indicate that four inches of snow has fallen and that there is a prospect of further snowfall, the Director of Public Safety shall order the removal of all vehicles parked on the streets of the City which have not been removed by the owners or operators. Such vehicles shall be removed to a motor vehicle pound as designated by the Director. Records shall be kept by the Police Division of all vehicles removed.
(d) Any person violating any of the provisions of this section, with respect to failure to remove parked vehicles when the weather conditions described in this section require such removal, shall be subject to the traffic penalties provided by law for illegal parking. In addition, where cars are towed to a motor vehicle pound, the car shall be recovered only upon the payment of the towing and storage charges imposed.
(e) The Police Division and the Director of Public Safety shall use all available means of disseminating information as to the existence of weather conditions requiring removal of parked motor vehicles. However, dissemination of this information shall not relieve owners or operators of motor vehicles from the responsibility of ascertaining the existence of weather conditions requiring the removal of parked motor vehicles from the public streets of the City.
(Ord. 78-17. Passed 11-6-78.)