Chapter 10.40
EXCESSIVE IDLING
Sections:
10.40.020 Excessive idling prohibited.
10.40.040 Violation – Penalty.
10.40.010 Definitions.
A. Idling Defined. “Idling” means the running of an engine which supplies the motive power for a vehicle, when not for the purpose of moving the vehicle with the normal flow of traffic on a street or roadway. Idling does not include running the vehicle’s engine while stopped at a traffic signal or waiting for the passage of other vehicles to permit safe entry into the flow of traffic. [Ord. 1566 § 1 (Att. A), 2018.]
10.40.020 Excessive idling prohibited.
Excessive idling in the residential districts is prohibited. Unless permitted by LMC 10.40.025 it is unlawful for the operator of any vehicle powered by an internal combustion engine while located in the residential districts to cause said engine to idle for a period longer than five minutes. [Ord. 1566 § 1 (Att. A), 2018.]
10.40.025 Idling permitted.
To the extent necessary for the specified purpose, idling is permitted in the following cases:
A. Police, sheriff or other law enforcement vehicles, including meter patrols, as required for safe and effective performance;
B. Fire department vehicles, ambulances and other emergency vehicles when responding to an emergency or when the use of special equipment requires that the engines remain in operation;
C. Construction or demolition equipment or other machinery when actually employed at the site of such work, and only to the extent necessary for efficient operation;
D. Trucks, buses, or automobiles equipped with lift gates, winches, or other devices powered by take-offs from their engines, to the extent necessary to allow use of those devices; provided, however, that this subsection does not authorize idling solely for the purpose of operating any heating device, cooling device, radio, power-assisted brakes, steering, seat adjustment or any luxury device not then required for safe operation of the vehicle;
E. Vehicles participating in parades if authorized by the city;
F. Buses or other mass transit vehicles while operated on a regular schedule;
G. Insofar as necessary for diagnosis, adjustment, or testing, vehicles undergoing repair or maintenance; but only when on the premises of the owner or person performing the work;
H. Any vehicle when required in an emergency for the protection of life, health, or property. [Ord. 1566 § 1 (Att. A), 2018.]
10.40.030 Notices.
The city administrator and/or his/her designee shall cause to be placed such notices as he may deem necessary to inform drivers of the prohibition against excessive vehicle idling; however, actual knowledge of the prohibition is not an element of an offense under this chapter. [Ord. 1566 § 1 (Att. A), 2018.]
10.40.040 Violation – Penalty.
Any person who owns, operates or controls a vehicle which is found to be in violation of any of the provisions of this chapter is guilty of an infraction and shall pay a monetary penalty set forth per Chapter 10.08 LMC. The penalty for violation shall be as follows:
A. If the violation is designated a parking infraction the penalty shall be at a rate set by city council resolution as amended from time to time for each infraction;
B. Unauthorized disabled zone parking: $250.00 or the state penalty for each infraction; and
C. If the violation is designated a civil infraction, the civil penalty for violation of any provisions of this chapter shall be $25.00 on the first offense, $50.00 on the second offense and $100.00 on the third offense. [Ord. 1566 § 1 (Att. A), 2018.]