98-03 OrdinanceRECORD OF ORDINANCES
Blank, [nc.
Ordinance No.
98-03
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING SECTION 76.02(E) OF THE
DUBLIN CODIFIED ORDINANCES REGARDING THE POSTING
OF HANDICAPPED PARKING FINE AMOUNT, AND
DECLARING AN EMERGENCY.
Passed
20
WHEREAS, Dublin Code Section 76.02(F) provides that no person shall stop, stand, or park any
motor vehicle at handicapped parking spaces, disability parking spaces, or at special clearly marked
parking locations ("handicapped parking spaces") unless the driver or passenger is a handicapped or
disabled person and is displaying a parking card or special handicapped license plates; and
WHEREAS, on July 7, 2003, the City Council passed Ordinance No. 73-03, which raised the fine
for parking in handicapped parking spaces to not less than two hundred fifty dollars ($250) nor more
than five hundred dollars ($500) in order to be consistent with state law minimum fine; and
WHEREAS, the Dublin Code currently requires all new and replacement handicapped parking
signs posted after July 5, 2000 to include the amount of the applicable fine; and
WHEREAS, Council finds that it would be in best interest of City for all handicapped parking signs
in the City to contain the applicable fine amount.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by the Council of the City of Dublin, State of Ohio,
2 of the elected members concurring that:
Section 1. Dublin Codified Ordinances Section 76.02(E) is hereby amended to read as follows:
§ 76.02 MANNER OF PARALLEL PARKING; HANDICAPPED PARKING.
(E) Special parking locations and privileges for persons with disabilities that limit or
impair the ability to walk, also known as handicapped parking spaces or disability parking spaces,
shall be provided and designated by all political subdivisions and by the state and all agencies and
instrumentalities thereof at all offices and facilities where parking is provided, whether owned,
rented, or leased, and at all publicly owned parking garages. The locations shall be designated
through the posting of an elevated sign, whether permanently affixed or movable, imprinted with the
international symbol of access and shall be reasonably close to exits, entrances, elevators, and ramps.
c ~nnn +r.o.-o ~~~., All si ms posted~ursuant to this section and regardless of when sigmas were
op sted, shall be have affixed upon the surface of that sign or affixed next to the designating sign a
notice that states the fine applicable for the offense of parking a motor vehicle in the special
designated parking location if the motor vehicle is not legally entitled to be parked in that location.
All elevated signs posted in accordance with this division and R.C. § 3781.111(B) shall be mounted
on a fixed or movable post, and the distance from the ground to the top edge of the sign shall
measure five feet.
Section 2. This ordinance is hereby declared to be an emergency necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public health, safety and welfare. The reason for such necessity is that motorists
should to be put on notice of applicable handicapped parking fine amount regardless of when the
handicapped parking sign was erected. Therefore, this ordinance shall go into immediate effect.
Passed this f , 2003.
Attest:
Presiding Officer
Clerk of Council
I hereby certify that copies of this
Ordinance/Resolution were posted in the
City of Dublin in accordance with Section
731.25 of the Ohio Revised Code.
rk of Council, Dublin, Ohio
Office of the City Manager
5200 Emerald Parkway • Dublin, OH 43017
Phone: 614-410-4400 • Fax: 614-410-4490
CITY OF DUBLIN
Memo
To: Members of the Dublin City Council
From: Jane S. Brautigam, City Manage~C~~~~ S _ ,(v ,~~-
Date: August 18, 2003
Re: Handicapped Parking Ordinance
Ordinance 98-03
Summary:
At the Council meeting of July 7, 2003, the Council adopted Ordinance No. 73-03, which raised the fine
for parking in a handicapped parking space to not less than two hundred fifty dollars ($250) nor more
than five hundred dollars ($500). The ordinance requires the owners of premises on which handicapped
signs are located to post a notice on the signs advising persons of the minimum fine for violation of the
parking restrictions, however this posting requirement applies only to new and replacement handicapped
parking signs posted after July 5, 2000.
The Council asked staff to make sure that property owners would be notified of their new obligations to
post minimum fine signs before issuing tickets to them for failure to do so. Staff met to outline a
strategy for communicating to property owners and for determining convenient ways to assist them in
compliance with these new requirements.
In these discussions it soon became abundantly clear that the law requiring posting for only some signs
(those newly installed or replaced after July 5, 2000) would be very difficult to enforce, would leave
property owners with uncertainties about whether to post or not, and would provide defendants with an
affirmative defense that the City would have extreme difficulty in countering. Rather than create more
confusion by attempting to communicate these responsibilities to property owners, staff decided that the
most efficient way to resolve the problem would be to propose an amendment to the Code requiring all
handicapped parking signs to contain the minimum fine language. Legal staff confirmed that the City
has the legal authority to impose such a requirement.
Staff next addressed the practical issues to be encountered in this process. The City sign shop has
designed an appropriate minimum fine sign that can be affixed to all of the City's handicapped parking
spaces. We calculated the cost of each sign at $27.12. Since the state law allows municipalities to use
the fines collected from handicapped parking tickets to subsidize the cost of enforcement, including the
printing of signs, we believe that over time, the City will recover the costs associated with the printing of
the signs.
Based upon past experience, we know that when private property owners try to obtain signs from private
vendors, they will probably have to pay much more than the City's actual cost to print the sign. As a
result, we are proposing that the City allow private property owners to purchase these signs from the
Page 2 of 2
August 13, 2003
City. We would conduct a cost study to establish the cost of printing signs for private property owners
so that we would fully recover our costs to do so.
Since the object of the new fine for handicapped parking violations is to achieve compliance, the staff is
proposing a communication effort designed to reach all affected property owners. These
communications would advise them of their responsibilities and let them know that the signs they need
are readily available at the City of Dublin at the City's true cost. A grace period of several months
(probably until December 1, 2003) would be permitted before property owners would be charged with
failure to post signs, and it would be our policy not to prosecute if they did post the sign prior to a court
appearance. However, I propose that we strictly enforce the posting requirement after the grace period
so that we achieve 100% compliance as soon as possible.
Finally, City staff will begin to post the minimum fine signs in all locations at which the City has
handicapped parking signs. Because of the number of spaces we have dispersed throughout the city, this
may take several weeks.
Recommendation: Approval of Ordinance and Declaring an Emergency
SCHOTTENSTEIN ZOX sc DUNN
a legal pro(essionol association
MEMORANDUM
TO: Dublin City Council
Jane Brautigam, City Manager
Anne Clarke, Clerk of Council
FROM: Stephen J. Smith, Law Director
Stephen J. Smith, Jr.
J. Corey Colombo
DATE: August 18, 2003
RE: Ordinance 98-03 regarding Posting of Handicapped Parking Fine
On July 7, 2003, the City Council passed Ordinance No. 73-03, which raised the fine for
parking in a handicapped parking space to not less than two hundred fifty dollars ($250) nor
more than five hundred dollars ($500). The Dublin Code is now consistent with the state law
minimum in the Ohio Revised Code.
As the Dublin Code now exists, all new and replacement handicapped parking signs
posted after July 5, 2000 must include the applicable fine amount. After further consideration,
several Staff members and the Law Department are of the opinion that all handicapped parking
signs must include the fine amount. Otherwise, it would be extremely difficult to enforce and
monitor signage compliance since it would be impossible to determine which signs were
"grandfathered" and which were new or replacement signs.
With the passage of Ordinance 98-03, all handicapped parking signs must contain the
applicable fine amount. If the signs do not contain a notice of the fine amount, the landowner
will be given a warning on the first offense. For each subsequent offense, the landowner can be
fined twenty-five dollars, pursuant to Dublin Code §76.02(0), for each handicapped parking
space that is not properly marked.
As always, please contact this office if you have any questions or wish to further discuss
this matter.
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