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File #: 2018-0791    Version: 1
Type: Ordinance Status: Passed Finally
File created: 8/24/2018 In control: Committee on Public Safety Services
On agenda: 9/12/2018 Final action: 9/18/2018
Enactment date: 9/18/2018 Enactment #: 36
Effective date: 9/20/2018    
Title: Ordinance amending and supplementing the Pittsburgh Code at Title Five: Traffic, so as to amend Chapter 548: Valet Parking, Section 548.01, Definitions, Section 548.02 License, and Section 548.03 Operating Procedures.
Attachments: 1. Summary 2018-0791

 

Title

Ordinance amending and supplementing the Pittsburgh Code at Title Five: Traffic, so as to amend Chapter 548: Valet Parking, Section 548.01, Definitions, Section 548.02 License, and Section 548.03 Operating Procedures.

 

Body

The Council of the City of Pittsburgh hereby enacts as follows:

 

Section 1.                     

 The Pittsburgh Code, Title Five, Traffic, is hereby amended at Chapter 548, as follows: 

 

§ 548.01 - DEFINITIONS.

For the purpose of this Chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings as set forth:

a)                     Valet Parking Operator means a person or business who employs one (1) or more attendants for the purpose of providing a valet parking service or who contracts said services to a business establishment for the purpose of providing a valet parking service to such establishment.

b)                     Valet Parking Service means a parking service provided to accommodate patrons of any business establishment by which a valet parking operator or attendant takes temporary custody of the patron's motor vehicle and moves, parks, stores, and/or retrieves the vehicle for the patron's convenience, regardless of whether a fee is charged.

c)                     High Occupancy Valet means an optional status for a valet parking service operated outside of a business establishment with an occupant load exceeding 400 people.

 (Ord. No. 17-2013, § 1, eff. 7-18-13; Ord. No. 25-2014, § 1, eff. 12-9-14) § 548.02 - LICENSE.

(a) No valet parking service is permitted unless a license allowing such activity has been issued pursuant to this Chapter. A separate license is required for each valet parking service location.

(b) Applications for valet parking operator licenses shall be made to the Director of Mobility and Infrastructure or his/her designee in a form to be set by the Director. Each valet parking operator license issued shall be for a one-year period only.

(c)    Fees

1.                     The fee for each valet parking operator license shall be two hundred dollars ($200.00) per year.

2.                     The renewal of each valet parking operator license shall be one hundred dollars ($100.00) per year.

3.                     The fee for each high occupancy valet parking operator license shall be four hundred dollars ($400.00) per year.

4.                     The renewal of each high occupancy valet parking operator license shall be two hundred dollars ($200.00) per year.

5.                     The fees may be adjusted at the discretion of the Director of Mobility and Infrastructure, who shall annually report such adjustments to Council.

 

 (d) Valet parking operator licenses shall be nontransferable.

(e) Eligible Spaces

1.                     A valet parking license shall be eligible for one (1) to three (3) parking spaces.

2.                     A high occupancy valet parking license shall be eligible for six (6) parking spaces and shall not exceed the length of the frontage of the business establishment being serviced.

3.                     The actual number of parking spaces shall be determined by the Department of Mobility and Infrastructure.

(f) A valet parking operator license shall not be issued without proof that the valet parking operator has the required insurance, in a minimum amount of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000.00) public liability, one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00) property damage, one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00) legal liability, and one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00) garage keeper liability for the duration of the licensing issuance period.

(Ord. No. 17-2013, § 1, eff. 7-18-13; Ord. No. 25-2014, § 1, eff. 12-9-14; Ord. No. 2-2018, § 23, eff. 2-15-18) § 548.03 - OPERATING PROCEDURES.

(a) Every business establishment for which a valet parking license is issued shall, during the hours of service, display the following information:

1. A copy of the valet parking operator license.

2. Proof of insurance.

3. The cost of the valet parking to the customer.

4. Where the valet parking operator must park vehicles (address/location).

5. City approved and issued signs at the parking space or spaces utilized for drop off and pick up of valet parking.

6. A copy of the driver's license of each valet parking operator or attendant that is parking vehicles.

(b) The valet parking operator must have legal off-street parking spaces available. An off-street parking space is available if owned or leased by the valet parking operator or if the valet parking operator has a contractual right to place a vehicle in that space.

1. No valet parking operator license, or renewal thereof, shall be issued unless applicant provides proof that, with respect to each business served, the valet parking operator has available legal off-street parking spaces equal in number to fifteen (15) percent of the occupancy content of that business.

2. A valet parking operator may provide a valet parking service without meeting the fifteen (15) percent occupancy threshold, provided that they shall not have more than twice as many vehicles in their possession at one (1) time than they have available legal off-street parking spaces.

(c) No valet parking operator shall park patrons' vehicles upon the public way at any time. All vehicles must be parked in off-street parking spaces as outlined in subsection (b). In accordance with Article VII of the City Code, the fine for any parking violations incurred by a vehicle while in the custody of a valet parking operator shall be the sole responsibility of the valet parking operator and shall, upon the occurrence of a final determination of liability, constitute a debt due and owing to the City. The valet parking operator's failure to pay any such fine shall subject the operator to the penalties set forth in this article and other applicable provisions of this Code.

(d) The public must not be forced to use the valet service.

(e) If the valet loading zone is operated from metered parking spaces during meter enforcement hours, the valet parking operator is required to pay the Pittsburgh Parking Authority, or its designee, all rates and fees related to taking the meter out of service.

(f) Valet parking operator must ensure that security guard the parked vehicles.

(g) Valet parking operator employees must have clearly distinguishable ID shirts or jackets with company name.

(h) Each valet parking operator shall place on the dashboard of each patron vehicle a sign or placard in such a manner so as to be conspicuously visible through the windshield of the patron vehicle. The sign or placard shall contain the following information "This Vehicle Parked by (valet parking operator), Contact information (valet parking operator phone number)".

(i) Every valet parking operator or attendant shall carry on his person a valid current driver's license at all times while in control of a patron's vehicle.

(j) If the valet service is located in the public right-of-way, a clear path of travel of three (3) feet must be maintained at all times.

(k) Valet companies are permitted to place three (3) cones within the designated valet pick-up and drop-off areas. The placement of the cones cannot be beyond the signed valet area and cannot impede the flow of traffic or create a hazard.

(l)  A patron’s motor vehicle shall in no case remain in the valet pick-up and drop-off area in excess of twenty (20) minutes.

 (Ord. No. 17-2013, § 1, eff. 7-18-13; Ord. No. 25-2014, § 1, eff. 12-9-14) § 548.04 - EXCEPTIONS.

(a) This Chapter shall not apply to any business establishment that provides patron parking entirely and solely on its premises. However, a valet parking operator license shall be required when the vehicle or the keys to the vehicle are given to the valet parking operator or attendant on any part of the public way, even if the actual parking of the vehicle is done entirely and solely on the establishment's premises.

(b) Temporary licenses shall be issued for a two-day period at the cost of fifty dollars ($50.00) per license per location. All other provisions of this Chapter shall apply to said temporary licenses.

(c) Nothing contained in this Chapter is intended to prohibit the ability of private business establishments to exclude public parking on their property, providing it is in conformance with all sections of the Pittsburgh Code of Ordinances and/or any agreement(s) with the property owner by and between the City of Pittsburgh and/or its component units.

(Ord. No. 17-2013, § 1, eff. 7-18-13; Ord. No. 25-2014, § 1, eff. 12-9-14) § 548.05 - VIOLATION AND PENALTIES.

Any valet parking operator violating any provision of this Chapter, unless otherwise specified in the section shall be fined a minimum of two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00) plus court cost for the initial violation and up to five hundred dollars ($500.00) plus court cost for each additional violation. Each day that an offense continues shall constitute a separate and distinct offense. In addition, the license of a valet parking operator who has been convicted of three (3) such offenses within a one-hundred-eighty-day period shall be revoked for at least one (1) year. After the year is up, the valet company can reapply for a provisional license. The provisional license shall be for one (1) year.

(Ord. No. 17-2013, § 1, eff. 7-18-13; Ord. No. 25-2014, § 1, eff. 12-9-14)