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An Ordinance Amending Chapter 74, Parking, of the Village Code of Ordinances to Add a New Section 74.14 and Amending Chapter 81.251(C), Motor Vehicle Towing
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WHEREAS, the Village of Romeoville (the “Village”) is a home rule unit of local government and may exercise any power and perform any function pertaining to its government and affairs pursuant to Article VII, Section 6 of the Illinois Constitution;
WHEREAS, the corporate authorities of the Village of Romeoville find and determine that dropping off passengers from a bus or other transportation provider within the Village without prior provisions being made for the proper housing and care of such individuals is inhumane, creates a dangerous condition for the persons being dropped off, and threatens police;
WHEREAS, the corporate authorities of the Village of Romeoville find and determine that dropping off passengers from a bus or other transportation provider within the Village without prior provisions being made for their proper housing and care can have deadly consequences when the weather conditions are adverse;
WHEREAS, the corporate authorities of the Village of Romeoville find and determine that the health and safety is jeopardized when individuals are being dropped off within the Village without prior provisions being made for their proper housing and care;
WHEREAS, the corporate authorities of the Village of Romeoville find and determine that the health, welfare and safety of the Village, its residents, and others coming to the Village are jeopardized when individuals are being dropped off within the Village without prior provisions being made for their proper housing and care;
WHEREAS, the corporate authorities of the Village of Romeoville find and determine that the Village’s best interests and the public health, welfare of the Village require that the unscheduled dropping off of individuals within the Village from busses or other transportation providers shall be regulated; and
NOW, THEREFORE, be it ordained by the President and Board of Trustees of the Village of Romeoville, pursuant to its home rule powers, as follows:
SECTION 1: RECITALS.
The foregoing recitals are true and correct, material to this Ordinance and incorporated herein as if they were fully set forth in this Section.
SECTION 2: AMENDMENT TO CHAPTER 74 OF THE VILLAGE OF ROMEOVILLE CODE OF ORDINANCES
The Village of Romeoville Code of Ordinances shall hereby be amended by adding the following text, to be codified as and for a new Section 74.14 thereof, all as hereinafter set forth:
74.14 REGULATION OF UNSCHEDULED BUS STOPS
A. Definitions: The terms used in this Section 74.14 shall be defined as follows;
“Application” shall mean a request for approval to make a bus stop in the Village of Romeoville on a form to be provided by the Chief of Police that meets all the requirements of this Section 74.14.
“Approval” means a written notice signed by the Chief of Police which approves an Application submitted in conformance with this Section 74.14.
“Bus” means any type of motor vehicle that is designed to carry, or is actually carrying, more than 10 individuals.
“Chief” means the Chief of Police or the Chief’s designee.
“Regularly Scheduled Service” means bus service that operates trips involving the dropping off of passengers in the Village on a predictable and recurring basis, following a schedule that is published in advance and available to the general public, and provides service in exchange for paying a fare.
“Unscheduled Bus Stop” means any location in the Village of Romeoville where individuals are dropped off by a Bus that originated from a location outside of Will County, Illinois that is not providing regularly scheduled service and not operating pursuant to the written approval of the Chief pursuant to this Section 74.14.
B. No Unscheduled Bus Stops. It shall be a violation of this Ordinance for the owner, operator, or driver of any Bus to make an Unscheduled Bus Stop for the purpose of dropping off passengers in the Village of Romeoville, or to permit any Bus to make an Unscheduled Bus Stop for the purpose of dropping off passengers in the Village of Romeoville
C. Application. The owner, operator, or driver of any Bus that is not providing Regularly Scheduled Service that desires to make a Bus stop to drop off passengers in the Village of Romeoville shall file an Application with the Chief using a form to be prepared by the Chief. The completed Application and all required information shall be submitted to the Chief at least 5 calendar days prior to the date of the proposed drop-off date. The Application shall include and provide the following information:
1. The full name, full address, and telephone numbers of the Owner, Operator, and Driver of the Bus. The mobile phone number of the driver of the Bus shall also be provided.
2. The full name, full address, mobile and land-line telephone numbers of the entity or individuals that has either directed, paid for, or financed the transport of persons to be dropped off in the Village of Romeoville by the Bus.
3. The full name of all persons that are proposed to be dropped-off in the Village of Romeoville along with copies of ID’s for said person to the extent such ID’s exist or are in the possession of the passengers.
4. The name, address, or location in the Village of Romeoville at which the Bus proposes to drop off passengers.
5. The date and time at which the Bus passengers will be dropped off in the Village of Romeoville which shall be from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on a Monday through Friday, excluding any holidays.
6. The name and address of all locations from which the passengers are being picked up for transport to the Village of Romeoville.
7. The full name, full address, mobile and land-line telephone numbers of all entities or individuals that shall be present in the Village of Romeoville to meet the Bus and receive the passengers when they are dropped off.
8. A detailed plan identifying how the individuals being dropped off will be cared for, housed, and fed, either temporarily or permanently, upon being dropped off in the Village of Romeoville, including how the expenses of such care, housing and feeding are to be defrayed. The plan shall include the full names, full addresses, and landline and mobile telephone numbers of all persons that will be present at the date and time of the drop-off and responsible for the care, housing and feeding of the passengers. The plan shall be signed by the entity that agrees to be responsible for the care of the individuals and at least one additional individual that will be present to receive the passengers and responsible for their care. The entity and the individual that will present to receive the passengers and be responsible for their care shall each by their signature certify that they will be responsible for providing the actions detailed in the plan.
D. Application Approval. Upon receipt of an Application pursuant to this Section 74.14, the Chief shall review same and undertake a review of the information contained in the Application to verify its truth, accuracy, completeness and authenticity. If the Application is not complete, the Chief shall, in writing, advise the Applicant of the additional items needed to complete the Application. If within 4 calendar days after receiving a completed Application, the Chief, provided he/she has not received any information that the Application is false or untrue in any manner, shall inform the Applicant that the Application is approved for the stated location. The Chief shall further provide a telephone number to the Applicant or driver to coordinate the arrival of the bus in the Village of Romeoville.
E. Violations. It shall be a violation of this Section 74.14 for any individual or entity to violate any of the terms of this Section 74.14 and/or engage in the following actions:
1. The submission of an Application that is false or untrue in any manner.
2. The failure of any entity or individual that is responsible for the care, housing, or feeding of any passengers dropped-off in the Village of Romeoville to implement or perform the detailed plan pursuant to the terms of an approved Application.
3. Making an Unscheduled Bus Stop in the Village of Romeoville.
4. Initiating any Bus transportation to the Village of Romeoville requires the approval of the Bus stop location without submitting an Application or failing to obtain approval of an Application as required by this Section 74.14.
F. Penalties: Any person found guilty of violating, disobeying, omitting, neglecting, or refusing to comply with, or resisting or opposing the enforcement of, any of the provisions of this Section 74.14, upon conviction thereof, shall be punishable by a fine of One Thousand Dollars ($1000.00) for each offense. A separate and distinct offense shall be regarded as committed each day upon which said person shall continue any such violation, or permit any such violation to exist after notification thereof, and provided further, that for violations of Section 74.14(B) a separate and distinct offense shall be regarded as committed with respect to each passenger on a Bus making an Unscheduled Bus Stop on the Village of Romeoville for the purpose of dropping off passengers. The Village at its discretion may enforce this Section 74.14 by: (1) a quasi-criminal action seeking the payment of a monetary penalty adjudicated under the Village’s Administrative adjudication system; or (2) an action seeking monetary and injunctive relief filed in the Circuit Court of Will County or any other Court having jurisdiction over the violator.
G. TOWING, SEIZURE AND IMPOUNDMENT OF BUS:
Whenever a police officer has reason to believe that a violation of Sections 74.12, 74.13 or 74.14 has occurred involving a Bus, the Bus at issue is subject to towing, seizure and impoundment in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 81 pertaining thereto, in addition to any other monetary penalty or other remedy that may be pursued. Violations of Sections 74.12, 74.13 or 74.14 shall be deemed incorporated by reference into Appendix A of Chapter 81 as if fully set forth therein. The police officer shall, in the exercise of discretion, provide for the towing of the Bus to a facility approved by the Police Department and the impoundment of the Bus at such facility.
Upon the towing of a Bus, the police officer shall notify or make a reasonable attempt to notify the owner of record, lessee, person claiming to be the owner or lessee, or any person who is found to be in control of the vehicle at the time of the alleged violation of the fact of the seizure and of the vehicle owner’s right to request an administrative hearing.
H. ADMINISTRATIVE TOW/IMPOUND HEARING:
Administrative hearings to contest the tows of unlawful vehicles shall be available and held in accordance with the provisions of Section 81.25, and administrative hearings to contest the impoundment of buses impounded under Sections 74.12, 74.13 or 74.14 shall be held in accordance with the provisions of Section 81.251.
SECTION 3: AMENDMENT TO SECTION 81.251(C)-IMPOUNDED VEHICLES
All those heretofore adopted ordinances of the Village of Romeoville codified as and for the first sentence of the presently existing Section 81.251(C) shall herby be amended to read as follows:
Prior to the conduct of an administrative hearing, an impounded vehicle may be released upon the payment to the village of an administrative fee in the amount of $400, and payment to the tow operator of all applicable towing and storage fees, provided, however, that in the event that the impounded vehicle shall be a bus impounded under any applicable provision of Chapter 74, the administrative fee due to the Village shall be $5,000, in addition to payment to the tow operator of all applicable towing and storage fees.
SECTION 3: HOME RULE.
This Ordinance, and each of its terms, shall be the effective legislative act of a home rule municipality without regard to whether such Ordinance should: (a) contain terms contrary to the provisions of current or subsequent non-preemptive state law; or (b) legislate in a manner or regarding a matter not delegated to municipalities by state law. It is the intent of the corporate authorities of the Village of Romeoville that to the extent that the terms of this Ordinance should be inconsistent with any non-preemptive state law, this Ordinance shall supersede state law in that regard within its jurisdiction.
SECTION 4: SEVERABILITY. That the various provisions of this Ordinance are to be considered severable and if any part or portion of this Ordinance shall be held invalid by any Court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions of this Ordinance.
SECTION 5: CONFLICTS. All prior Ordinances and Resolutions, or parts thereof in conflict or inconsistent with this Ordinance are hereby expressly repealed only to the extent of such conflict or inconsistency.
SECTION 6: EFFECTIVE DATE. This Ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage, approval and publication in pamphlet form as provided by law, subject to final Village Manager and Village Attorney review.