HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 1807 - WR Code of Laws Auto Vehicle Identification10/29/2024 HTTPS://CIWHEATRIDGECOUS-MY.SHAREPOINT.COM/PERSONAL/RCURRY_CI_WHEATRIDGE_CO_US/DOCUMENTS/DESKTOP/10.28.24 PACKET PREP/DOCS FOR SIGNATURE/241028 - C.2.B - ORD - V.2 2024 06 24_WR ORD AVIS. W RL ADDTN.DOCX
CITY OF WHEAT RIDGE, COLORADO INTRODUCED BY COUNCIL MEMBER DOZEMAN COUNCIL BILL NO. 22
ORDINANCE NO. 1807 Series 2024 TITLE: AN ORDINANCE ADOPTING A NEW ARTICLE VI IN CHAPTER 13 OF THE WHEAT RIDGE CODE OF LAWS CONCERNING
AUTOMATED VEHICLE IDENTIFICATION SYSTEMS
WHEREAS, the City of Wheat Ridge is a home rule municipality having all powers conferred by Article XX of the Colorado Constitution; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to its home rule authority and C.R.S. § 31-15-401, the City, acting through its City Council (the “Council”), is authorized to adopt ordinances for the
protection of the public health, safety, or welfare; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to C.R.S. § 42-4-110.5, the City is authorized to utilize automated vehicle identification systems to detect violations of tragic regulations adopted by the City, subject to certain conditions and limitations; and
WHEREAS, the Wheat Ridge Police Department desires to install automated
vehicle identification systems to ensure more robust enforcement of the City’s tragic laws; and
WHEREAS, the Council finds it desirable to amend the Wheat Ridge Code of Laws to enact an automatic vehicle identification system within the City for the protection of local health, safety, and welfare.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL FOR THE CITY OF WHEAT RIDGE, COLORADO, THAT:
Section 1. Chapter 13 of the Wheat Ridge Code of Laws is amended by the addition of a new Article VI, to read in its entirety as follows:
Article VI – Automated Traffic Enforcement
Sec. 13-90. - Definitions.
For the purposes of this article, the following words, terms and phrases, shall have the following meanings:
Automated Traffic Enforcement shall mean a system used to automatically detect a violation of a traffic regulation and simultaneously record a
photograph of the vehicle, the operator of the vehicle, and the license plate
of the vehicle. The term includes a system whereby:
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(1) A machine is used to automatically detect a speed violation or a traffic control signal violation, and simultaneously record a photograph of the vehicle and the license plate of the vehicle;
and
(2) A notice of violation or civil penalty assessment notice may be issued to the registered owner of the motor vehicle.
Civil Penalty Assessment Notice shall mean a notice mailed via first-class mail or personally served to a registered owner of a vehicle involved in any
speed violation or traffic control signal violation that has previously received
a notice of violation.
Notice of Violation shall mean a notice mailed via first-class mail or personally served to a registered owner of a vehicle involved in any speed violation or traffic control signal violation detected by an automated traffic
enforcement system advising that the violation has been detected, or a
similar notice mailed to the operator of the vehicle identified by a registered owner of said vehicle.
Residential Neighborhood shall mean any block on which a majority of the improvements along both sides of the street are residential dwellings and
the speed limit is thirty-five (35) miles per hour or less.
Sec. 13-91. - Notices of Violation in General.
(a) If the City detects any alleged violation of a county or municipal traffic regulation or traffic violation under state law using an automated traffic enforcement system, then the City shall issue, or cause its
vendor to issue, to the registered owner of the motor vehicle involved
in the alleged violation, by first-class mail or personal service, a Notice of Violation.
(b) The City may only issue a Notice of Violation for violations that occur:
(1) Within a school zone, as defined in C.R.S. § 42-4-615;
(2) Within a residential neighborhood;
(3) Within a maintenance, construction, or repair zone designated pursuant to C.R.S. § 42-4-614;
(4) Along a street that borders a City park; or
(5) Along a street, or portions of a street, which the City
designates as an automated traffic enforcement system
corridor as set forth in Section 13-93.
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(c) The Notice of Violation shall contain, at minimum, the following information:
(1) The name and address of the registered owner of the motor
vehicle involved in the alleged violation;
(2) The license plate number of the motor vehicle involved in the alleged violation;
(3) The date, time, and location of the alleged violation;
(4) The amount of the civil penalty prescribed for the alleged
violation;
(5) The deadline for payment of the prescribed civil penalty and for disputing the alleged violation;
(6) Information on how the registered owner may either dispute the alleged violation at a hearing or pay the prescribed
penalty. The notice shall contain a written deadline for
disputing the alleged violation which is not less than forty-five (45) days after the issuance date of the notice
(d) To protest the Notice of Violation, the registered owner must request, in writing, a hearing to dispute the alleged violation.
Sec. 13-92. – Speeding and Traffic Signal Violations.
(a) Speeding Violations.
(1) For a speeding violation of less than ten (10) miles per hour over the reasonable and prudent speed under a county or city traffic regulation or under state law through the use of an
automated traffic enforcement system, the violation shall be
cited as follows:
a. For the registered owner's first offense, a written warning with no penalty or surcharge; and
b. For the registered owner's second or subsequent
offense, a Notice of Violation.
(2) For a speeding violation of ten (10) miles per hour or more over the reasonable and prudent speed under a county or city traffic regulation or under state law through the use of an automated traffic enforcement system, the City shall issue the
registered owner a Notice of Violation.
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(b) Civil Penalty. The maximum civil penalty for a speeding violation or traffic control signal violation under this Section, including any surcharge, is forty dollars ($40.00), unless the violation is within a
school zone, in which case the maximum penalty shall by eighty
dollars ($80.00). A violation that occurs within a maintenance, construction, or repair zone designated pursuant to C.R.S. § 42-4-614 may be subject to a civil penalty of eighty dollars ($80.00).
(c) Signage. The City shall:
(1) Post a permanent sign in a conspicuous place not fewer
than three hundred (300) feet before the beginning of the automated traffic enforcement system corridor and a permanent sign not fewer than three hundred feet before each camera within the corridor thereafter and/or;
(2) Post a temporary sign not fewer than three hundred
feet before any mobile camera.
Sec. 13-93. - Automated Traffic Enforcement System Corridors.
(a) Pursuant to C.R.S. § 42-4-110.5(2)(g)(I), the City will identify automated traffic enforcement system corridors based on collected
traffic data and place the automated traffic enforcement system to
represent the highest traffic safety needs of the City.
(b) Should the City elect to designate an automated vehicle identification corridor, the City shall illustrate, through data collected within the past five years, incidents of crashes, speeding, reckless driving, or
community complaints on a street designated as said automated
vehicle identification corridor.
(c) The City will coordinate with the Department of Transportation and Colorado State Patrol in enforcing the provisions of this Article.
(d) If applicable, the City will publish a report on its website disclosing
the number of citations and revenue generated by an automated
traffic enforcement system corridor.
(e) The City shall not locate an automated traffic enforcement system corridor on any highway that is part of the federal interstate highway system.
Sec. 13-94. - Civil Penalty Assessment Notices.
(a) If the City has not received the prescribed civil penalty or written notice requesting a hearing to dispute the alleged violation by the deadline provided in the Notice of Hearing, then the City shall issue,
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or cause its vendor to issue, a Civil Penalty Assessment Notice to be served on the registered owner either by first-class mail or personal service.
(b) The Civil Penalty Assessment Notice shall contain:
(1) The name and address of the registered owner of the motor vehicle involved in the alleged violation;
(2) The license plate of the motor vehicle involved in the alleged violation;
(3) The date, time, and location of the alleged violation;
(4) The amount of the civil penalty prescribed for the alleged violation;
(5) The deadline for payment of the prescribed civil penalty; and
(6) Information on how to pay the prescribed civil penalty.
(c) If the registered owner fails to pay the full prescribed civil penalty by
the deadline stated in the Civil Penalty Assessment Notice, a final order of liability shall be entered against the registered owner of the vehicle. The final order must be personally served to the registered owner. Final orders of liability may be appealed as to matters of law
and fact to the Jefferson County Court.
(d) The City may initiate or pursue a collection action against the registered owner of a motor vehicle for debt resulting from the final order of liability contingent upon personal service of the Notice of Violation or the final order of liability.
(e) The City shall not report to the Department of Transportation any
conviction or entry of judgment against a defendant for a violation of a municipal traffic regulation or traffic violation under state law if the violation was detected using automated traffic enforcement
(f) If the registered owner fails to pay the full prescribed civil penalty, the
City shall not attempt to enforce the penalty by immobilizing the
registered vehicle owner's vehicle.
Sec. 13-95. - Vendors.
(a) No portion of any fine collected using an automated traffic enforcement system may be paid to the manufacturer or vendor of
the automated traffic enforcement system equipment. The
compensation to such vendor by the City shall be based on the value
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of such equipment and the value of any services provided and shall not be based on the number of traffic citations issued or the revenue generated by such equipment or services.
Sec. - 13-96. Data Retention.
(a) The City shall:
(1) Program the automated traffic enforcement system to retain data only when a violation of a county or municipal traffic regulation or traffic violation under state law occurs;
(2) Treat all photographs and video collected by the automated
vehicle traffic enforcement system as confidential and exempt from disclosure and inspection pursuant to the "Colorado Open Records Act" part 2 of Article 72, Title 24, C.R.S.;
(3) Not use, disclose, sell, or permit access to photographs,
video, or personal identifiable data collected by the automated
traffic enforcement system except to the extent necessary to operate the program, including for purposes of processing violations, for other law enforcement purposes, for transferring data to a new vendor or operating system, or,
pursuant to a court order, for use in unrelated legal
proceedings; and
(4) Destroy any photographs and video of a violation collected by the automated traffic enforcement system within three (3) years after the final disposition of the violation unless the
photographs or video are maintained in a separate system for
other purposes allowed by law.
Section 2. Severability, Conflicting Ordinances Repealed. If any section, subsection or clause of this Ordinance shall be deemed to be unconstitutional or otherwise invalid, the validity of the remaining sections, subsections and clauses shall not
be affected thereby. All other ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict with the provisions of this Ordinance are hereby repealed. Section 3. Effective Date. This Ordinance shall take effect fifteen (15) days after final publication, as provided by Section 5.11 of the Charter.
INTRODUCED, READ, AND ADOPTED on first reading by a vote of 8 to 0 on this 14th day of October 2024, ordered published by title and in full on the City’s website as provided by the Home Rule Charter, and Public Hearing and consideration on final passage set for October 28, 2024 at 6:30 p.m., in the Council Chambers, 7500 West 29th
Avenue, Wheat Ridge, Colorado.
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READ, ADOPTED AND ORDERED PUBLISHED on second and final reading by a vote of 6 to 0, this 28th day of October 2024.
SIGNED by the Mayor on this 29th day of October 2024.
CITY OF WHEAT RIDGE, COLORADO
________________________________ Bud Starker, Mayor ATTEST:
________________________________ Margy Greer, Senior Deputy City Clerk
__________________________ Approved as to Form: Gerald E. Dahl, City Attorney First Publication:10/15/24
Second Publication:10/29/24 Effective Date:11/13/24 Published: Jeffco Transcript and www.ci.wheatridge.co.us