Can a North Carolina city charge more than $5 for parking in a fire lane, or is the maximum fine capped at five dollars under G.S. 20-162.1?

Plain-English summary

The City of Thomasville asked whether the maximum penalty for parking in a fire lane was the five dollars stated in G.S. § 20-162.1 or the fifty dollars stated in G.S. § 14-4(b) for violating a city parking ordinance. The Attorney General's office concluded that the city could adopt a fire-lane parking ordinance and that the maximum monetary penalty for a violation was $50.

G.S. § 160A-301(d) authorized a city to regulate stopping, standing, and parking by ordinance. G.S. § 20-162.1 set a $5 penalty for an infraction under that section. But the later amendment to G.S. § 14-4(b) set a $50 maximum for violating a city parking ordinance, and the 1991 act expressly repealed conflicting laws. The opinion said § 14-4(b) controlled to the extent of the conflict. It also noted that local modifications to these statutes existed, but none applied to Thomasville.

Currency note

The dollar limit in this opinion reflects the statutes considered in 1996. Check current state law and any applicable local modifications before setting or assessing a parking penalty.

Common questions

Did the opinion require Thomasville to set its fine at exactly $50?

No. It identified $50 as the maximum monetary penalty for a city parking ordinance violation under the statutes it considered.

Why did the older $5 provision not control?

The opinion said the 1991 amendment to G.S. § 14-4(b) came after the last amendment to G.S. § 20-162.1 and expressly repealed conflicting laws. The later $50 maximum controlled to the extent the provisions conflicted.

Did the opinion consider other cities' local acts?

It noted that many local modifications existed but said none applied to Thomasville. It did not resolve the effect of any particular local act elsewhere.

Source

• Landing page: https://ncdoj.gov/opinions/maximum-penalty-that-may-be-assessed-for-violations-of-city-parking-ordinances/

Citations

• N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-4
• N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-4(b)
• N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-162
• N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-162.1
• N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-162.1(a)
• N.C. Gen. Stat. § 160A-301(d)
• 1991 Sess. Laws, ch. 446, § 2

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scrape that omitted the opening salutation. The linked NCDOJ page is authoritative for the full original.

• G.S.
• § 20-162.1(a). For reasons which follow, it is our opinion the City may adopt an ordinance regulating parking in fire lanes and the maximum penalty is not limited to $5.00. The maximum penalty is an infraction and a fine of not greater than $50.00.
• G.S.
• § 160A-301(d) provides that a governing body of a city may, by ordinance, "regulate the stopping, standing, or parking of vehicles" in specified areas. This statute is the enabling law for all municipal parking ordinances. Chapter 20 of the General Statutes, the motor vehicle laws, also addresses parking regulations. G.S. § 20-162 is a general prohibition to parking in front of private driveways, fire hydrants, fire stations, intersections of curb lines, and fire lanes. A prima facie rule, stating that the owner of the vehicle is deemed to be the operator for purposes of any citation, is set forth in G.S. § 20-162.1, and this statute applies to G.S. § 20-162. This same statute also provides that "[a]ny person found responsible for an infraction pursuant to [G.S. § 20-162.1] shall be subject to a penalty of not more than five dollars ($5.00)." G.S. § 20-162.1, therefore, appears to set the maximum penalty for any violation of a parking ordinance at $5.00. However, a conflicting statute also exists.
• G.S.
• § 14-4(b) states that "[i]f any person shall violate an ordinance of a … city or town regulating the … parking of vehicles, he shall be responsible for an infraction and shall be required to pay a penalty of not more than fifty dollars ($50.00)." The 1991 Session Laws, Chapter 446, Section 2, which amended G.S. § 14-4, specifically provided that the act repealed all laws in conflict with G.S. § 14-4. G.S. § 20-162.1 was last amended by the General Assembly in 1987. To the extent that G.S. § 20-162.1 conflicts with the later amended G.S. § 14-4(b), § 14-4(b) controls. Therefore, the maximum monetary penalty for a violation of a city parking ordinance is $50.00.

Numerous local modifications exist for both G.S. §§ 20-162 and 162.1 and G.S. § 14-4; none of these local modifications apply to the City of Thomasville.

Andrew A. Vanore, Jr.
Chief Deputy Attorney General

Jeffrey P. Gray
Assistant Attorney General