STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
9064--A
IN ASSEMBLY
January 21, 2016
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SANTABARBARA -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Transportation -- committee discharged, bill amended,
ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to providing
parking spaces for veterans injured in the line of duty
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding four new
2 sections 1205, 1205-a, 1205-b and 1205-c to read as follows:
3 § 1205. Parking permits for veterans injured in the line of duty. 1.
4 The commissioner shall distribute special vehicle identification parking
5 permits to the governing bodies of all cities, town and villages in the
6 state. Notwithstanding any local law or ordinance to the contrary, such
7 permits shall entitle any vehicle displaying such permit to park in any
8 area in any city, town or village of the state which has been designated
9 by such city, town or village or pursuant to the provisions of section
10 twelve hundred five-c of this article as a place for parking for veter-
11 ans injured in the line of duty. The design, period of validity, and
12 procedures for reissuance of such permits shall be as determined by the
13 commissioner. A city, town or village issuing a permit pursuant to this
14 subdivision shall indelibly inscribe or otherwise mark, on the face of
15 such permit, the last three digits of the identification number of the
16 driver's license or non-driver identification card of the person to whom
17 the permit is issued. The governing bodies of cities, towns and villages
18 in the state shall appoint an issuing agent to issue such permits. Any
19 person issued a permit pursuant to this section who holds a driver's
20 license or non-driver identification card shall make the last three
21 digits of such license or identification card available to an issuing
22 agent at the time of permit issuance or renewal by presenting such
23 license or identification card to such issuing agent. Any person issued
24 a permit pursuant to this section who holds a driver's license or non-
25 driver identification card shall carry and make available to a law
26 enforcement officer upon demand, or as soon as practicable thereafter,
27 his or her driver's license or non-driver identification card which
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13619-03-6
A. 9064--A 2
1 shall be presumptive evidence of the validity of his or her special
2 vehicle identification parking permit. Failure to make available such
3 driver's license or non-driver identification card upon demand shall not
4 be deemed a violation. The permits shall be issued to any resident of
5 New York state who is a veteran, as defined in section eighty-five of
6 the civil service law, who has been injured in the line of duty upon
7 application of such person, provided, however, that an issuing agent
8 shall issue permits only to residents of the city, town or village in
9 which such issuing agent is located, except that, an issuing agent, in
10 his or her discretion, may issue a permit to a veteran who has been
11 injured in the line of duty who is not a resident of the city, town, or
12 village in which such issuing agent is located where such person resides
13 in a city, town, or village in which the governing body has not
14 appointed an issuing agent.
15 2. Such permit shall be for use exclusively in a vehicle in which the
16 person to whom it has been issued is being transported and such permit
17 shall not be transferable and shall be forfeited if presented by any
18 other person. Any abuse by any person, facility or agency to whom such
19 permit has been issued of any privilege, benefit, precedence or consid-
20 eration granted pursuant to the issuance of such permit, shall be suffi-
21 cient cause for revocation of said permit.
22 3. The special vehicle identification parking permit issued by the
23 commissioner shall be recognized statewide.
24 4. A person who knowingly and wilfully with the intent to deceive
25 makes a false statement or gives information which such individual knows
26 to be false to a public official to obtain a parking permit for veterans
27 injured in the line of duty or to prevent the marking on such permit of
28 the last three digits of a driver's license or non-driver identification
29 card held by such person, in addition to any other penalty provided by
30 law, shall be subject to a civil penalty of not less than two hundred
31 fifty dollars nor more than one thousand dollars.
32 § 1205-a. Parking spaces; veterans. 1. Parking spaces for veterans
33 injured in the line of duty. A veterans permit issued in accordance
34 with the provisions of section one thousand two hundred five of this
35 article shall entitle the veteran-driver to park in such parking spac-
36 es. Parking spaces for veterans shall be those parking spaces accorded
37 to a holder of a veterans parking permit provided in accordance with
38 section one thousand two hundred five of this article.
39 2. It shall be a violation for any person to stop, stand or park a
40 vehicle in any area designated as a place for veteran parking unless the
41 vehicle bears a permit issued under section one thousand two hundred
42 five of this article and such vehicle is being used for the transporta-
43 tion of a veteran. This subdivision shall not apply to a violation of
44 section twelve hundred five-c of this article.
45 § 1205-b. Veterans parking enforcement. 1. A county, city, town or
46 village may, by adoption of a local law or ordinance, establish a veter-
47 ans parking violation unit to assist in the enforcement of veterans
48 parking laws or ordinances. Persons appointed to such unit shall be
49 volunteers, shall serve without compensation, and shall be authorized to
50 provide evidence of violations of veterans parking laws or ordinances to
51 the appropriate local enforcement authority. Such evidence may include
52 photographing a violation, provided that such photograph is taken and
53 handled in compliance with the requirements of this section.
54 2. A local law or ordinance enacted in accordance with the provisions
55 of this section shall:
A. 9064--A 3
1 (a) establish a training program of no less than two hours in length
2 and require each volunteer to participate in and complete such training
3 program;
4 (b) provide for the assignment of an identification number to each
5 volunteer, and provide official identification and equipment to assist
6 volunteer personnel in the conduct of their duties;
7 (c) establish uniform procedures for volunteers to follow in determin-
8 ing whether a violation has occurred;
9 (d) establish procedures for the uniform reporting of violations,
10 which reporting shall include the identification number of the volunteer
11 making the report;
12 (e) if such local law or ordinance provides for the taking of photo-
13 graphs of violations, (i) grant only the enforcement agency the authori-
14 ty to process or to contract for the processing of all film submitted by
15 volunteers; (ii) require any photographs evidencing a violation to be
16 available for inspection in any proceeding to adjudicate the liability
17 for such violation; (iii) provide that a certificate, sworn to or
18 affirmed by a technician employed by the locality in which the charged
19 violation occurred, or a facsimile thereof, based upon inspection of
20 photographs produced from film submitted by volunteers, shall be prima
21 facie evidence of the facts contained therein; and (iv) prohibit the use
22 of such a photograph for any purpose other than as evidence of a hand-
23 icapped parking violation; and
24 (f) provide the following with respect to notices of violation: (i) a
25 notice of violation shall be sent by first class mail to each person
26 alleged to be liable as an owner for a violation of a veterans parking
27 law or ordinance. A manual or automatic record of mailing prepared in
28 the ordinary course of business shall be prima facie evidence of the
29 facts contained therein; (ii) a notice of violation shall reference the
30 law which was allegedly violated, and shall contain the name and address
31 of the person alleged to be liable as an owner for a violation of a
32 veterans parking law or ordinance, the registration number of the vehi-
33 cle involved in such violation, the location where such violation took
34 place, the date and time of such violation, and the identification
35 number of the volunteer who recorded the violation; (iii) a notice of
36 violation shall contain information advising the person charged of the
37 manner and the time in which he or she may contest the violation alleged
38 in the notice, and shall also contain a warning to advise the persons
39 charged that failure to contest in the manner and time provided shall be
40 deemed an admission of liability and that a default judgment may be
41 entered thereon.
42 § 1205-c. Off street parking spaces for veterans injured in the line
43 of duty. 1. Any person, firm or corporation owning a shopping center or
44 facility with at least five separate retail stores and at least twenty
45 off street parking spaces which are provided for use by the shopping
46 public must designate as only for veterans injured in the line of duty
47 and clearly mark for use by veterans a minimum of three percent of such
48 parking spaces or six such spaces whichever is less. These spaces must
49 be located as close as reasonably practicable to the shopping center
50 facility and reasonably distributed so as to provide convenient access
51 for use by veteran drivers. Such parking spaces are to be used by veter-
52 an drivers displaying a special municipal parking permit (as defined in
53 section twelve hundred five of this article and distributed by the
54 commissioner of motor vehicles to local governing bodies to be issued to
55 veterans who reside in such locality).
A. 9064--A 4
1 2. (a) The parking spaces designated pursuant to the provisions of
2 this section shall be clearly identified for use by veterans injured in
3 the line of duty which designation shall include conspicuous and perma-
4 nently installed above grade signs and which shall be positioned from
5 the parking space surface at a height of not less than five feet nor
6 more than seven feet and may include the use of green painted lines or
7 markings. Such parking spaces also may be marked as tow-away zones.
8 (b) Whenever a person, firm or corporation creates an off-street park-
9 ing lot or parking garage, or repaves or repaints more than one-half of
10 the total number of parking spaces in an off-street parking lot or park-
11 ing garage, which contains designated veteran parking spaces, or creates
12 designated veteran parking spaces in an off-street parking lot or park-
13 ing garage, or repaves or repaints more than one-half of the total
14 number of designated veteran parking spaces in an off-street parking lot
15 or parking garage, the size of designated veteran parking spaces shall
16 be at least eight feet wide.
17 3. A violation of this section by any person, firm or corporation
18 owning a shopping center or facility with at least five separate retail
19 stores and at least twenty off street parking spaces which are provided
20 for use by the shopping public who fails to provide spaces only for
21 veterans injured in the line of duty and clearly marked for use by such
22 veterans in accordance with this section, shall be punishable by a fine
23 up to two hundred fifty dollars.
24 4. Except as otherwise provided by local law which imposes a larger
25 maximum fine, any person who stops, stands or parks in spaces clearly
26 marked for use by veterans injured in the line of duty in accordance
27 with this section, without a special vehicle identification parking
28 permit or a special municipal parking permit and being used for the
29 transportation of a veteran injured in the line of duty; or with such
30 permit or registration and such person is not the one to whom the permit
31 or registration was issued or is not transporting the person issued the
32 permit or registration; shall be subject to a fine of not less than
33 fifty dollars nor more than seventy-five dollars for the first offense
34 and seventy-five to one hundred fifty dollars for the second offense
35 occurring within a period of two years within the same municipality. The
36 arresting or ticketing officer shall issue a summons to violators of
37 this section. A ticketing officer issuing a summons pursuant to this
38 section may provide for the removal and storage of a motor vehicle ille-
39 gally parked in a veteran parking space.
40 5. Notwithstanding any other state or local law to the contrary, a
41 state, county or municipal law enforcement officer seeking to enforce
42 subdivision four of this section, may enter onto the parking lot of any
43 shopping center or facility as described in subdivision one of this
44 section regardless of the existence or absence of any state or local law
45 or rule otherwise permitting or restricting such access for such law
46 enforcement officer.
47 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
