GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

1987 SESSION

 

 

CHAPTER 843

HOUSE BILL 1032

 

AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE ENFORCEABLE DESIGNATION OF HANDICAPPED PARKING SIGNS.

 

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

 

Section 1.  G.S. 20-37.6(d) reads as rewritten:

"(d)      Designation of Parking Places.  Designation of parking spaces for the physically handicapped and the visually impaired on streets and in other areas, including public vehicular areas specified in G.S. 20-4.01(32), shall be by the use of sign R7-8 for multiple parking spaces as shown in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, or sign R7-8a for single parking spaces as shown in the N. C. Department of Transportation Supplement to the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices.  Nonconforming signs in use prior to July 1, 1979, shall not constitute a violation of G.S. 20-37.6(e)(4) during their useful lives, which shall not be extended by other means than normal maintenance.  These nonconforming signs shall be removed and be replaced with conforming signs before January 1, 1989; provided that a sign or symbol painted on the surface of a parking space need not be removed when a conforming sign is erected."

Sec. 2.  G.S. 20-37.6 is amended by adding a new subsection (d1) to read:

"(d1)    Unique Properties.  The owner of private property which contains a public vehicular area, on which is to be designated one or more parking spaces for the physically handicapped and the visually impaired, may file a written certification, on a form supplied by the Department of Transportation, that signs conforming to G.S. 20-37.6(d) would not be compatible with the unique visual character of the property.  Upon filing of the certification with the Department of Transportation, the owner may cause to be erected signs of materials and colors different from signs R7-8 and R7-8a.  The signs shall be the same size and shape as signs R7-8 or R7-8a, as appropriate, with the same letters, words, numbers and symbols.  Such signs shall be deemed to conform to G.S. 20-37.6(d)."

Sec. 3.  This act shall become effective on October 1, 1987.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 14th day of August, 1987.