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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2970 Special Vehicle Permits ORDINANCE NO. ~ ~J D AN ORDINANCE RELATING TO TOUR BUS AND SPECIAL VEHICLE PERMITS Annotated to show delotions and additions to the code sections being modified. Deletions are bold . and additions are bold underlined. / WHEREAS, Article 2. Section 1 of the Ashland City Charter provides: Powers of the City The City shall have all powers which the constitutions, statutes, and common law of the United States and of this State expressly or impliedly grant or allow municipalities, as fully as though this Charter specifically enumerated each of those powers, as well as all powers not inconsistent with the foregoing; and, in addition thereto, shall possess all powers hereinafter specifically granted. All the authority thereof shall have perpetual succession. WHEREAS, the above referenced grant of power has been interpreted as affording all legislative powers home rule constitutional provisions reserved to Oregon Cities. City of Beaverton v. International Ass'n of Firefiahters. Local 1660, Beaverton Shop 20 Or. App. 293; 531 P 2d 730, 734 (1975); and WHEREAS, the City of Ashland currently has a permitting process for tour buses and special vehicles located in the taxicab chapter of the Ashland Municipal Code, and WHEREAS, the City would like to revise the special vehicle permitting process and codify it as its own chapter in the Ashland Municipal Code. THE PEOPLE OF THE CITY OF ASHLAND DO ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Sections 6.30.010 [Definitions] through 6.30.140 [Violation] are hereby added to read as follows: 6.30.010 Definitions. A. Commission. The City of Ashland transportation related commission. B. Community Development Director. The City of Ashland Director of Community Development or his desianee authorized to perform the duties of this Chapter by the Community Development Director. C. Director. The City of Ashland Director of Public Works or his desianee authorized to perform the duties of this Chapter by the Director of Public Works. D. Driver. Anv person that operates a special vehicle or tour bus as a driver for any permitted special vehicle or tour bus, reaardless of Page 1 of 7 whether the vehicles operated are owned bv the companv. leased. or owned bv individual members of the company. E. Flat rate. A fare which remains constant reaardless of the distance traveled or the time involved. F. Operate. To drive. use to conduct business. or receive money from the use of a special vehicle or tour bus. or cause or allow another person to do the same. G. Permit. A numbered permit issued under this chapter to operate a special vehicle or tour bus. H. Special vehicle. A horse-drawn cart or carriaae. pedicab. licensed motorized street car or other similar specialized vehicle used to transport passenaers. I. Street. Anv street. allev. avenue. road. lane. hiahwav or public place in the City commonlv used for the purpose of public travel. J. Tour bus. A vehicle which is not subiect to reaulation bv the State of Oreaon Public Utilitv Commission. and which has a passenaer seatina capacity which does not exceed 20. provided. however. a tour bus does not include a vehicle operated for the exclusive use of senior citizens or the disabled. 6.30.020 Permit Reauired. No person shall operate anv special vehicle or tour bus on any public street in the City of Ashland without possessina. in addition to any license reauired bv any other law. a valid permit authorizina the proposed operation. A permit shall be valid for a period of one year and may be renewed annuallv bv the Commission. 6.30.030 Application Reauired. Anv person. reauestina a permit for a special vehicle or tour bus shall submit a completed application containina such information as the City may reauire to the Director. 6.30.040 Authoritv to Issue Permits. A. The Director shall have the authority to review and approve or deny reauests for tour bus and special vehicle permits. The Director may attach special conditions to any permit and shall have the authority to waive any of the criteria specified in AMC 6.30.050 for one-time onlv special vehicle permits for special events. The Director. in his discretion. may reauest a recommendation from transportation related commissions reaardina whether the permit should be approved or denied. B. The Director shall have the authority to issue a special vehicle permit for non-motorized vehicles: 1) When such vehicles will be used for weddinas or similar events wh&re the passenaers are not returned to the point of oriain: Page 2 of 7 2) When the route does not reauire extensive travel alona North or East Main streets. Siskiyou Boulevard. Hiahwav 66 (Ashland Street). Hersev Street. or Lithia Way: and 3) If the route crosses any street noted in the above subsection. such crossina will not cause substantial conflict with traffic on those streets. 6.30.050 Criteria for approval. The proposed operation shall: A. Have a clearlv defined route that will not create traffic conaestion or adverselv affect the character or privacy of a residential area. B. Have proposed pick-up and delivery locations that will not create. or materiallv contribute to. a parkina problem. c. Have a vehicle speed that will not create traffic conaestion or safety problems. D. Utilize streets of sufficient width. includina vision clearance at intersections. so that it will not materiallv contribute to traffic and pedestrian safety problems. E. Have a fixed route with passenaers picked UP onlv at a specified sinale point of oriain and. except for Lithia Park. passenaers shall be returned to that same point. F. Each day. prior to the operation of any special vehicle or tour bus. the special vehicle or tour bus shall be thorouahlv inspected bv the operator and found to be in safe operatina condition. An inspection for safe operatina conditions must include. but is not limited to. inspection of: brakes includina parkina brake: allliahts. sianals and reflectors: steerina system: mirrors: horn and other warnina devices: tires: and the availabilitv of helmets for drivers and passenaers of pedicabs. For any condition found then or at any other time that will prevent the safe operation of the special vehicle or tour bus. the operator shall immediatelv remove the vehicle from service and correct the condition before returnina i,t to service. 6.30.060 Renewal of Special Vehicle or Tour Bus Permit. Special Vehicle and tour bus permits shall remain in effect upon submission of an annual insurance certificate documentina coveraae in compliance with section 6.30.090 and payment of the annual permit fee. unless revoked under this chapter. Failure to renew the special vehicle or tour bus license in a timelv fashion shall result in late fees. 6.30.070 Operations Prohibited. Permittees in the operations described in this section shall not: A. Respond to specific or individual calls for transportation from one point to another in the manner of taxicabs or otherwise perform the services of taxicabs as defined in Section 6.28.020. or Page 3 of 7 -----r ~--- B. Have to complv with subsection A of this section if the operation involves pedicabs. c. Operate or allow the operation of any special vehicle or tour bus unless the operator possesses a valid Oreaon driver's license. 6.30.080 Sians. A. Anv sian located on a vehicle must not exceed six sauare feet in area on any one side of the vehicle. For purposes of this subsection. sian means any insiania. identification. description. illustration. svmbol. loao. decal or printed or araphic information. B. Upon completion and submission of a sian permit application to the Community Development Director and upon payment to the city of a fee to be established bv resolution of the city council. the Community Development Director will issue to the operator of any special vehicle a special vehicle boardina zone sian permit and a special vehicle boardina zone sian. The sian is to be affixed bv the operator to such post. liaht pole. or other location as may be specified in the permit. and onlv durina hours the special vehicle is in operation. The sian is to be in such standardized format as the Community Development Director may specify: of approximatelv the same size as a standard city parkina- hours sian: and desianed so as to aenerallv resemble some type of sian sanctioned in most current edition of the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices. The sian is to read "Horse Drawn Carriaae/PedicabUas the case may be} Boards Here." The sian will remain the property of the city and must be returned to the Community Development Director upon expiration of the operator's permit issued pursuant to this Chapter. The sian is deemed for purposes of AMC 18.96.030 to be an informational sian placed bv the City of Ashland in the public riaht of way. 6.30.090 Sound Amplification. No form of sound amplification intended to be heard outside of the special vehicle or tour bus shall be permitted. 6.30.100 Liabilitv Insurance Reauired. A. No person shall be issued a permit. or operate any special vehicle or tour bus. unless the special vehicle or tour bus is covered bv commercialliabilitv insurance providina coveraae limits of at least J500.000 per occurrence in combined sinale limit for bodilv iniurv and property damaae claims. or $500.000 per occurrence for bodilv iniurv mJ100.000 per occurrence for property damaae. Liabilitv coveraae shall be 'provided on an "occurrence" not "claims" basis. A certificate of insurance coveraae. evidencina insurance coveraae in compliance with this section. shall be filed with the City before a permit is issued and for renewal of the permit. The City of Ashland. its officers. emplovees. and aaents shall be named as additional insureds. Page 4 of 7 B. The insurance policy shall contain a provision that states that the policy will not be reduced in coveraae or canceled without 30 days prior written notice to the Citv. C. Failure to maintain adeQuate insurance as reQuired under this section shall be cause for immediate suspension or revocation of a special vehicle or tour bus permit. 6.30.110 Permit Fee. Permit fees shall be set by resolution of the City Council. If the permit is aranted. a reaular annual business license fee shall be obtained by the permittee prior to operation of the special vehicle or tour bus. The business license and its associate fee are in addition to the special vehicle permit and fee. No portion of the business license fee shall be refundable in the event the operation is discontinued for any reason. 6.30.120 Revocation. A. Suspension and Revocation. Any permit issued under this chapter may be revoked or suspended if the Director finds after a reasonable investiaation that: 1) The provisions of this chapter or reaulations adopted hereunder have been violated: 2) Any statement contained in the application for the permit or license is false: 3) The suspension or revocation is necessary to protect the public health. safety. and welfare aenerally: or 4) The revocation or suspension is otherwise authorized by ordinances of the city. B. Any suspension or revocation pursuant to this section shall be in writina. settina forth the reasons therefore. and aivina five days written notice prior to the revocation or suspension. C. Except as provided below. any suspension or revocation shall be effective 10 days after mailina a COpy therof by first class United State mail addressed to the special vehicle or tour bus company at the business or residence address shown on the permit application or renewal. D. Notwithstandina subsection C of this section. a suspension or revocation may be effective immediately if the city finds reasonable arounds to believe that: 1) A vehicle beina operated as a special vehicle or tour bus is not covered by liability insurance reQuired by AMC 6.30.090. or 2) Continued operation by the special vehicle or tour bus company would cause. or is likely to cause. imminent danaer to the public health. safety. and/or welfare. 6.30.130 Appeals. Page 5 of 7 A. Grounds for Appeals. Appeals to a hearinas officer may be made by any special vehicle or tour bus company whose: 1) Application for the reauired permit or permit renewal has been denied by the Director: 2) Special vehicle or tour bus company's permit has been approved with terms or conditions they oppose: 3) Special vehicle or tour bus company's permit has been revoked or suspended by the city: or 4) Permit has been suspended by the city so that the company no lonaer has authority to operate any vehicle under its permit. B. Procedure for Appeals. Any person wishina to appeal a decision of the city under this ordinance shall follow the procedures set forth in AMC 2.30 6.30.140 Violation. Each operation of a tour bus or special vehicle in violation of this section is a separate violation, whether the prohibited operations occur within the same day, different days, or relate to the same or different tour bus or special vehicle. A violation of any provision of this chapter is a violation and shall be punished as set forth in AMC 1.08.020. SECTION 2. Severability. The sections, subsections, paragraphs and clauses of this ordinance are severable. The invalidity of one section, subsection, paragraph, or clause shall not affect the validity of the remaining sections, subsections, paragraphs and clauses. SECTION 3. Savings. Notwithstanding this amendmenUrepeal, the City ordinances in existence at the time any criminal or civil enforcement actions were commenced, shall remain valid and in full force and effect for purposes of all cases filed or commenced during the times said ordinance(s) or portions thereof were operative. This section simply clarifies the existing situation that nothing in this Ordinance affects the validity of prosecutions commenced and continued under the laws in effect at the time the matters were originally filed. SECTION 4. Codification. Provisions of this Ordinance shall be incorporated in the City Code and the word "ordinance" may be changed to "code", "article", "section", "chapter" or another word, and the sections of this Ordinance may be renumbered, or re-Iettered, provided however that any Whereas clauses and boilerplate provisions (Le. Sections 2-4) need not be codified and the City Recorder is authorized to correct any cross-references and any typographical errors. The foregoing ordinance was first read by title only in accordance with Article X, Section 2(C) of the City Charter on the JO day of O~ , 2008, and duly PASSED and ADOPTED this ~I day of CK;:/{Jf{IGr- , 2008. Page 6 of 7 -,---- ~1Ii~ Barbara M. Christensen, City Recorder SIGNED and APPROVED this ~Z day of ~008. Page 7 of 7 "" ~