Athens City Code

1. (1) Except as hereinafter provided, every vehicle parked upon a street within the city shall be so parked that its right wheels are parallel to and within 18 inches of the right edge or curb of the street. On one-way streets where the city has not placed signs prohibiting the same, vehicles may be permitted to park on the left side of the street and, in such cases, the left wheels shall be required to be within 18 inches of the left edge or curb of the street.
2. (2) No person shall park or leave a vehicle, motorized or non-motorized, or any trailer parked on any other public street for more than 24 hours without prior approval of the city manager, or his/her designee. Upon written request, the city manager, or his/her designee, will investigate the proposed parking to ensure that the parked vehicle or trailer does not pose a traffic hazard and, upon determining that no hazard exists, may grant approval for the vehicle or trailer to be parked on the public street. In no case will permission be granted for more than seven days.
3. (3) Furthermore, no person shall wash, grease, or work on any vehicle, except to make repairs necessitated by an emergency, while such vehicle is parked on a public street.

(Code 1972, § 9-501; Code 1995, § 15-601; Ord. No. 917, 4-20-2004; Ord. No. 1085, § 4, 12-19-2019)

On those streets which have been signed or marked by the city for angle parking, no person shall park or stand a vehicle other than at the angle indicated by such signs or markings. No person shall angle park any vehicle which has a trailer attached thereto or which has a length in excess of 24 feet.

(Code 1972, § 9-502; Code 1995, § 15-602)

No person shall park a vehicle in any designated parking space so that any part of such vehicle occupies more than one such space or protrudes beyond the official markings on the street or curb designating such space, unless the vehicle is too large to be parked within a single designated space.

(Code 1972, § 9-503; Code 1995, § 15-603)

No person shall park a vehicle in violation of any sign placed or erected by the city nor:

1. (1) On a sidewalk.
2. (2) In front of a public or private driveway.
3. (3) Within an intersection or within 15 feet thereof.
4. (4) Within 15 feet of a fire hydrant.
5. (5) Within a pedestrian crosswalk.
6. (6) Within 50 feet of a railroad crossing.
7. (7) Within 20 feet of the driveway entrance to any fire station and on the side of the street opposite the entrance to any fire station within 75 feet of the entrance.
8. (8) Alongside or opposite any street excavation or obstruction when other traffic would be obstructed.
9. (9) On the roadway side of any vehicle stopped or parked at the edge or curb of a street.
10. (10) Upon any bridge or other elevated structure upon a highway or within a highway tunnel.
11. (11) Alongside any curb painted yellow or red by the city.
12. (12) Alongside or within a fire lane, provided such fire lane has been properly signposted or indicated by pavement marking.
13. (13) Within 30 feet upon the approach of any flashing beacon, stop sign, or traffic control signal located at the side of a roadway.

(Code 1972, § 9-504; Code 1995, § 15-604; Ord. No. 783, 11-16-1993)

No person shall park a vehicle for any purpose or period of time other than for the expeditious loading or unloading of passengers or merchandise in any place marked by the city as a loading and unloading zone.

(Code 1972, § 9-505; Code 1995, § 15-605)

1. (1) Lines, markings to designate free parking spaces. The city manager shall have lines or markings painted or placed upon the curb and/or upon the street for the purpose of designating the parking spaces to be used and each vehicle parking adjacent or next to any parking space shall park within the lines or markings so established. It is a civil offense to park any vehicle across any such line or marking or to park the vehicle in such position that the same shall not be entirely within the area designated by such lines or markings.
2. (2) Overtime parking prohibited. It is a civil offense for any person to cause, allow, permit, or suffer any vehicle registered in the name of, or operated by, such person to be parked overtime or beyond the period of legal parking time established for any parking zone.
3. (3) Driver's implied consent to parking control marks on tires; erasure or concealment of parking control marks on vehicle tires prohibited; evading parking time limitation prohibited.
   1. (a) Any person who operates any vehicle upon the streets, thoroughfares and public travelways within the corporate limits of the city and who utilizes the two-hour free on-street parking spaces provided herein gives his or her consent to the placement of nonpermanent parking control marks upon the tires of any vehicle parked in the designated two-hour free parking spaces.
   2. (b) It is a civil offense for any person to cause, allow, or permit the movement of any vehicle within the same parking space as to cover up or otherwise conceal the nonpermanent parking control marks placed upon vehicle tires by law enforcement officers to compute overtime parking or to in any manner, erase, wash, remove, obscure, obliterate, or otherwise wipe off the time marks placed upon the vehicle's tires while parked in the same parking space.
   3. (c) It is a civil offense for a vehicle to be moved with the purpose of evading parking time limitation to another parking space located within the same city block. The movement of a vehicle less than 30 minutes before or after the expiration of the parking time limitation from one parking space to such other parking space shall be presumed to have been moved with the purpose of evading the parking limitation.
   4. (d) Any person found in violation of this section shall be deemed guilty of a civil offense and, upon conviction, shall pay a civil penalty as assessed by the city judge.

(Code 1995, § 15-606; Ord. No. 770, 12-15-1992)

1. (1) Unless qualified, it is unlawful for the operator of a vehicle to park in a space designated for disabled persons, unless the driver or an occupant of the vehicle meets the definition of a medically disabled person.
2. (2) The term "disabled parking stall" means a stall so designated by a disabled parking sign as well as pavement marking symbols. The sign shall be in accordance with the Federal Highway Administration's Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices.

(Code 1972, § 9-507; Code 1995, § 15-607)

When any unoccupied vehicle is found parked in violation of any provision of this chapter, there shall be a prima facie presumption that the registered owner of the vehicle is responsible for such illegal parking.

(Code 1972, § 9-508; Code 1995, § 15-608)

On any municipally-owned parking lots not used in connection with a municipal function or facility, the same may be used by the general public for parking motor vehicles, under such rules and regulations as the city council may make. No spaces may be reserved except by special permission of the city council. No vehicle shall be parked on the municipally-owned parking lots more than 24 consecutive hours. Any vehicle parked in violation of this section or parking regulations made by the city council may be removed at the owner's expense and the owner or operator would be guilty of a civil offense.

(Code 1972, § 9-509; Code 1995, § 15-609)