Chapter 10.20
STOPPING, STANDING AND PARKING
Sections:
10.20.010 Removal of improperly stopped, parked or standing vehicles – Responsibility for costs.
10.20.020 Businesses permitting vehicles parked, etc., on sidewalks, streets. etc., prohibited.
10.20.030 Parking on private property.
10.20.040 Illegal parking – Notice – Issuance.
10.20.050 Illegal parking – Notice – Failure to comply.
10.20.060 Illegal parking – Presumptions.
10.20.070 Diagonal parking – On certain streets.
10.20.080 Diagonal parking – Fifteen-minute limit in certain spaces.
10.20.090 Obstruction of traffic prohibited.
10.20.110 Parking adjacent to schools.
10.20.120 Idling of motor vehicles.
10.20.130 Recreation vehicles.
10.20.010 Removal of improperly stopped, parked or standing vehicles – Responsibility for costs.
(a) Whenever any police officer finds a vehicle stopped, parked or standing upon a street, highway or restricted parking area in violation of the provisions of this chapter, such officer is hereby authorized to move such vehicle, or to require the driver or other person in charge of the vehicle to move the same.
(b) The registered owner of any vehicle moved pursuant to subsection (a) of this section shall be responsible for all expenses for moving. [Amended during August 1984 supplementation; Ord. 373, 1974. 1996 Code § 10-72.]
10.20.020 Businesses permitting vehicles parked, etc., on sidewalks, streets. etc., prohibited.
No person, whether owner or occupant of any garage, sales rooms or other place of business, shall permit any motor vehicle whether the same is left for safekeeping, repair or storage, or whether same is stock in trade, to be or remain on any sidewalk, street or alley. [Ord. 373, 1974. 1996 Code § 10-75. Prior Code § 13-201.]
For state law as to authority of town to regulate the use of streets and sidewalks, see WS, 1977, 15-1-103.
10.20.030 Parking on private property.
No person shall drive or park upon any private property, or on any property where driving and parking is prohibited by order of the governing body, unless such operator has permission of the owner. Cost of removal of such vehicle will be borne by the owner of such trespassing vehicle. [Ord. 373, 1974. 1996 Code § 10-77.]
10.20.040 Illegal parking – Notice – Issuance.
Whenever any motor vehicle without a driver is found parked or stopped in violation of any of the restrictions imposed by this chapter or any other ordinance of this town, the officer finding such vehicle shall take its registration number and may take any other information displayed on the vehicle which may identify its user, and shall conspicuously affix to such vehicle a notice in writing for the driver to answer to the charge against him during the hours and at a place specified in the notice. [Ord. 373, 1974. 1996 Code § 10-78.]
10.20.050 Illegal parking – Notice – Failure to comply.
If a violator of the restrictions on stopping, standing or parking does not appear in response to a notice affixed to such motor vehicle, the chief of police may send to the owner of the motor vehicle to which the notice was affixed a letter informing him of the violation and warning him that in the event such notice is disregarded, a complaint will be filed and warrant of arrest issued. [Ord. 373, 1974. 1996 Code § 10-79.]
10.20.060 Illegal parking – Presumptions.
In any prosecution charging a violation of any provision of this code or other town ordinance governing the standing or parking of a vehicle, proof that the particular vehicle described in the complaint was parked in violation of any such law, 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. [Ord. 373, 1974. 1996 Code § 10-80.]
10.20.070 Diagonal parking – On certain streets.
All vehicles in the town when parked shall be placed adjacent to and parallel to the curb; except that all parking shall be diagonal on the following streets:
(a) Water Street and Maple Street between 8th and 10th Streets.
(b) The north side of Gilchrist Street from the railway right-of-way to 10th Street, and on the south side of Gilchrist Street from the railway right-of-way to 11th Street.
(c) 8th Street and 10th Street between Water and Maple Streets.
(d) The north side of Walnut Street between 8th and 9th Streets.
(e) At any and all other locations which the police chief of the town of Wheatland has identified and marked as places that diagonal parking can take place. [Ord. 663, 1997; Ord. 373, 1974. 1996 Code § 10-81.]
10.20.080 Diagonal parking – Fifteen-minute limit in certain spaces.
(a) No person shall park or leave standing a motor vehicle in the spaces provided therefor along the west side of lots 17, 18, 19 and 20 of block 66 in the town for a period of time at any one time in excess of 15 minutes.
(b) No person shall park or leave standing a motor vehicle in the spaces provided therefor in the westerly three parking spaces along the south side of lot 20, block 66 of the town for a period of time at any one time in excess of 15 minutes. [Ord. 373, 1974. 1996 Code § 10-82.]
10.20.090 Obstruction of traffic prohibited.
No person shall park any vehicle upon a street, other than an alley, in such a manner or under such conditions as to leave available less than 10 feet of the width of the roadway for free movement of vehicular traffic. [Ord. 373, 1974. 1996 Code § 10-83.]
10.20.100 Parking in alley.
No person shall park a vehicle in an alley except while conducting business through any drive-up facility or loading or unloading freight and then not to exceed 30 minutes. [Ord. 506 § 2, 1979; Ord. 373, 1974. 1996 Code § 10-84.]
10.20.110 Parking adjacent to schools.
The chief of police is hereby authorized to erect signs indicating no parking upon that side of any street adjacent to any school property when such parking would, in his opinion, interfere with traffic or create a hazardous situation. When official signs are erected indicating no parking, no person shall park a vehicle in such a designated place. [Ord. 373, 1974. 1996 Code § 10-85.]
10.20.120 Idling of motor vehicles.
(a) It shall be unlawful for any owner, operator or anyone in control of a motor vehicle which operates on the diesel form of fuel to allow that motor vehicle to idle for extended periods of time within residential areas of the town of Wheatland.
“Extended periods of time” shall be any time that exceeds 60 minutes.
(b) Exceptions. This section shall not apply to emergency vehicles such as ambulances, fire equipment, police protection equipment or school buses.
This section shall not apply to motor vehicles which are at a specific location and actively unloading or loading freight and merchandise.
(c) Penalty. Any violation of this section will carry a penalty of not more than $750.00. [Ord. 666 §§ 1 – 3, 1998.]
10.20.130 Recreation vehicles.
(a) Recreational Vehicle, Trailer – Defined.
(1) For purposes of this chapter, “recreational vehicle” means any vehicular-type unit that is primarily designed as a temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, or seasonal use; has its own mode of power or is mounted on or towed by another vehicle; and is regulated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as a vehicle or vehicle equipment.
(2) For the purposes of this chapter, “trailer” means any of the following:
a. Any “semi-trailer” which is designed for carrying persons or property and for being drawn by a motor vehicle and so constructed that some part of its weight or that of its load rests upon or is carried by another vehicle. “Semi-trailer” shall include any camper designed to be carried in or upon a truck or other motor vehicle, and any house trailer, as defined by Wyo. Stat. Ann. Section 31-5-102(a)(xv), if so designed or constructed that some part of its weight or that of its load rests upon or is carried by another vehicle.
b. Any “trailer” which is designed for carrying persons or property and for being drawn by a motor vehicle and so constructed that no part of its weight or that of its load rests upon or is carried by another vehicle. “Trailer” shall include any camp trailer, tent trailer, or house trailer, as defined by Wyo. Stat. Ann. Section 31-5-102(a)(xv), if so designed or constructed that no part of its weight or that of its load rests upon or is carried by another vehicle.
(b) Parking Permitted in Certain Areas.
(1) In addition to the limitations specified in this chapter, recreational vehicles and trailers may be parked in the street only if the area in which any such vehicle is parked is immediately and entirely adjacent to real property which is owned by or occupied by the owner of the recreational vehicle or trailer.
(2) Any vehicle or its cargo exceeding a height of eight feet from the ground shall be parked at least 30 feet away from any intersection.
(3) Any recreation vehicle or vehicle towing any type of trailer shall not park in any space marked for diagonal parking.
(4) It shall be unlawful for any person to park, place or let stand any recreational vehicle or trailer on any public street within the town abutting the lot of a residential dwelling, other than that property owned or rented by the owner of the vehicle, for a period longer than 24 hours without the written permission of one or more of the owners of the abutting residential dwelling.
(c) Penalty.
(1) Any person in violation of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined a sum not to exceed $750.00.
(2) If the town of Wheatland must move your recreational vehicle for the interest of public safety, the owner of said recreational vehicle shall be responsible for all towing and impound fees. [Ord. 798 §§ 1 – 3, 2016; amended during August 1984 supplementation; Ord. 419 Ch. 4 § 12, 1976. 1996 Code § 10-71.]