Is it illegal to park in or block a van-access aisle in Texas?

Texas AG Opinion JC-0077: Blocking a Van-Access Aisle Is an Offense

Plain-English summary

A van-access aisle is the wide striped lane painted next to a van-accessible disabled parking space. It exists so a person using a wheelchair or other mobility device has room to lower a ramp or lift and get out of the vehicle. Drivers sometimes park in or across those striped lanes, and Senator Florence Shapiro, who chaired the Senate Committee on State Affairs, asked the Attorney General whether doing that breaks the law.

Section 681.011(c) of the Transportation Code makes it a misdemeanor to park a vehicle so that it blocks "an architectural improvement designed to aid persons with disabilities, including an access or curb ramp." The statute names ramps as examples but does not list van-access aisles by name, and there was no statutory definition or court decision spelling out what else the phrase covered. Because the provision creates a criminal offense, the Attorney General read it narrowly, as the law requires for penal statutes, so that people have fair notice of what conduct is punished.

Even read narrowly, the opinion concluded a van-access aisle qualifies. The word "including" in the statute is a term of enlargement, not a closed list, so the question was whether a van-access aisle is enough like an access ramp or curb ramp to belong in the same category. The opinion found it is: like a ramp, the aisle is specially designed to let a person with a mobility disability get from a vehicle to the building, it is required by federal law (the Americans with Disabilities Act regulations and the matching Texas accessibility standards), and federal law sets precise specifications for it. The opinion saw no sensible reason the legislature would punish blocking a ramp but not blocking a van-access aisle that serves the same purpose. So blocking a van-access aisle is an offense under section 681.011(c), punishable under section 681.011(g)-(k).

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1999. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Did blocking a van-access aisle count as an offense in Texas?
According to this opinion, yes. The Attorney General concluded that parking a vehicle so it blocks a van-access aisle is an offense under section 681.011(c) of the Transportation Code, punishable under section 681.011(g)-(k).

What is a van-access aisle?
It is the striped lane next to a van-accessible parking space. Federal accessibility rules require that one in every eight accessible spaces (at least one) be served by an access aisle at least 96 inches wide and marked "van accessible." The aisle gives a person enough room to exit a van and reach the access or curb ramp leading to the building.

The statute only mentions ramps, so why does it reach aisles?
The statute says the protected improvements "include" access and curb ramps. The opinion explained that "including" is a term of enlargement, not an exclusive list, citing Government Code section 311.005(13). It then asked whether a van-access aisle is similar enough to the listed ramps to fit the category, and concluded it is, because the aisle serves the same access function and is likewise required and specified by federal law.

How did the criminal nature of the statute affect the analysis?
Because section 681.011(c) creates a criminal offense, the opinion construed it narrowly so people have fair notice of what is prohibited. It concluded that, given the statute as a whole covers wrongful use of disabled parking spaces, no person could reasonably fail to be on notice that blocking a van-access aisle is an offense, so reading the aisle into the statute was consistent with strict construction.

Background and statutory framework

Section 681.011 of the Transportation Code sets out several offenses connected to disabled parking. Subsection (a) makes it an offense to park in a designated disabled space using disabled plates or a placard when the driver is not disabled and is not transporting a disabled person. Subsection (b) makes it an offense to park in a designated disabled space without disabled plates or a placard. Subsection (d) addresses lending a placard to someone who misuses it. Subsection (c), the provision at issue, makes it an offense to park a vehicle so that it blocks "an architectural improvement designed to aid persons with disabilities, including an access or curb ramp."

The accessibility requirements come from federal law. The Americans with Disabilities Act and the Department of Justice regulations set minimum standards for new or altered public parking lots, including the requirement that one in every eight accessible spaces be served by a 96-inch-wide van-access aisle and that van-accessible spaces carry special signage. The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation adopted substantially identical requirements under the Texas Architectural Barriers Act (article 9102) in the Texas Accessibility Standards.

For the construction question, the opinion relied on the rule that a penal statute must be construed narrowly so it fairly notifies people of what conduct is required, citing Agey v. American Liberty Pipe Line Co. (a Texas Supreme Court decision), State v. International G.N. Ry. Co. (a Texas Supreme Court decision), and Howell v. Mauzy (a Texas Court of Appeals decision in Austin). It then compared the van-access aisle to the access and curb ramps the statute names, noting that all three are specially designed to help a person with a mobility disability reach a building from the parking lot and all three are required and precisely specified by federal law (28 C.F.R. pt. 36, app. A).

Citations

Statutory and regulatory provisions:

• Tex. Transp. Code Ann. § 681.011(c), (g)-(k) (Vernon 1999)
• Tex. Gov't Code Ann. § 311.005(13) (Vernon 1998)
• Tex. Rev. Civ. Stat. Ann. art. 9102 (Vernon Supp. 1998)
• 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101-12205 (1995 & Supp. 1999)
• 28 C.F.R. pt. 36, app. A §§ 4.1.2(5)(b), 4.6.3, 4.6.4, 4.7, 4.8 (1998)

Cases:

• Agey v. American Liberty Pipe Line Co., 172 S.W.2d 972 (Tex. 1943)
• State v. International G.N. Ry. Co., 179 S.W. 867 (Tex. 1915)
• Howell v. Mauzy, 899 S.W.2d 690 (Tex. App.-Austin 1994, writ denied)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/john-cornyn/jc-0077
• Original PDF: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1999/jc0077.pdf

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain — the linked PDF is authoritative.

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL STATE OF TEXAS

JOHN CORNYN

July 14, 1999

The Honorable Florence Shapiro
Chair, Committee on State Affairs
Texas State Senate
P.O. Box 12068
Austin, Texas 78711

Opinion No. JC-0077

Re: Whether a van-access aisle adjacent to a van-accessible parking space is an "architectural improvement designed to aid persons with disabilities" for purposes of section 681.011(c) of the Transportation Code (RQ-1228)

Dear Senator Shapiro:

Under section 681.011(c) of the Transportation Code, a person who parks a vehicle so as to obstruct "an architectural improvement designed to aid persons with disabilities" commits a misdemeanor. See also TEX. TRANSP. CODE ANN. § 681.011(g)-(k) (Vernon 1999) (prescribing penalties). You ask whether a van-access aisle adjacent to a van-accessible parking space is an "architectural improvement designed to aid persons with disabilities" in the context of section 681.011(c). We believe it is.

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101-12205 (1995 & Supp. 1999), the United States Department of Justice has promulgated minimum standards, designed to improve access for the disabled, for new or altered public parking lots. Among other things, the Department of Justice requires that one in every eight accessible parking spaces be served by a van-access aisle: "One in every eight accessible spaces, but not less than one, shall be served by an access aisle 96 [inches] . . . wide minimum and shall be designated 'van accessible. . . .'" 28 C.F.R. pt. 36, app. A § 4.1.2(5)(b) (1998); see also id. § 4.6.4 (providing for signage). The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation has adopted substantially identical requirements in accordance with the Texas Architectural Barriers Act, TEX. REV. CIV. STAT. ANN. art. 9102 (Vernon Supp. 1998). See TEX. DEP'T OF LICENSING & REGULATION, TEXAS ACCESSIBILITY STANDARDS § 4.1.2(5)(a), (b) (1994).

Section 681.011 of the Texas Transportation Code establishes several offenses related to the unauthorized use or misuse of disabled parking spaces or privileges. For example, under section 681.011(a), a person who parks a vehicle with specially designed, disabled license plates or a disabled parking placard in a designated disabled parking space commits an offense if the driver is not disabled or is not transporting a disabled person. A person without disabled license plates or a disabled parking placard on his or her vehicle commits an offense under section 681.011(b) if the person parks in a designated disabled parking space. Under section 681.011(d), a person commits an offense if he or she lends a disabled parking placard to another person who uses the placard in contravention of section 681.011. And, under section 681.011(c), a person commits an offense if the person "parks a vehicle so that the vehicle blocks an architectural improvement designed to aid persons with disabilities, including an access or curb ramp."

You ask whether a van-access aisle adjacent to a van-accessible parking space qualifies as an "architectural improvement designed to aid persons with disabilities" for purposes of section 681.011(c) of the Transportation Code. We find no statutory definition or judicial construction of the phrase "architectural improvement designed to aid persons with disabilities." Because section 681.011(c) is a statute that creates a criminal offense for parking in a way that obstructs an "architectural improvement designed to aid persons with disabilities," however, the phrase must be strictly construed. A statute imposing a criminal penalty must be construed narrowly to, in part, fairly notify persons subject to the statute so that they may act as the statute requires and avoid the criminal penalty. See Agey v. American Liberty Pipe Line Co., 172 S.W.2d 972, 974 (Tex. 1943); State v. International G.N. Ry. Co., 179 S.W. 867, 868 (Tex. 1915); Howell v. Mauzy, 899 S.W.2d 690, 704 (Tex. App.-Austin 1994, writ denied).

Moreover, the statute tells us that an architectural improvement designed to aid persons with disabilities includes items like access ramps and curb ramps. TEX. TRANSP. CODE ANN. § 681.011(c) (Vernon 1999). The term "including" is a term of enlargement, not a term denoting exclusivity. TEX. GOV'T CODE ANN. § 311.005(13) (Vernon 1998). To determine whether a van-access aisle should be "included" within the set of architectural improvements designed to aid persons with disabilities, we consider whether a van-access aisle bears significant similarities to an access ramp or a curb ramp. We believe it does.

Both an access ramp and a curb ramp are features specially designed to facilitate access by a person with a mobility disability. Generally, both enable a person with such a disability to navigate from the parking-lot or street level to a sidewalk or building entrance. Without an access or curb ramp, a person with a mobility disability would be severely hampered in any attempt to access a building from the parking lot. Additionally, both are mandated by federal law, see 28 C.F.R. pt. 36, app. A §§ 4.7, 4.8 (1998), and federal law sets out precise specifications for each, see id. For example, an access ramp generally shall have a slope of 1:12 with a maximum rise of thirty inches, see id. § 4.8.2, shall have a minimum clear width of thirty-six inches, see id. § 4.8.3, shall have level landings, see id. § 4.8.4, and shall have handrails in certain circumstances, see id. § 4.8.5. Similarly, a curb ramp "shall be provided wherever an accessible route crosses a curb," see id. § 4.7.1, shall have a maximum slope of 1:12, see id. §§ 4.7.2, 4.8.2, shall be at least thirty-six inches wide, see id. § 4.7.3, and generally shall have flared sides, see id. § 4.7.5.

A van-access aisle is similar in function and purpose to a ramp and is also similarly required by law. A van-access aisle is specially designed to facilitate access by a person with a mobility disability by providing sufficient space adjacent to a parking space for such a person to exit a van and access the access or curb ramp, and from there, the building served by the parking lot. The ability of a person with a mobility disability to leave a vehicle and approach a building from the parking lot would be hampered without a van-access aisle. In addition, federal law requires that a specific proportion of total parking spaces in every public parking lot must be served by a van-access aisle. See id. § 4.1.2(5)(b). The dimensions of the van-accessible parking space are regulated by federal law, see id. §§ 4.1.2(5)(b), 4.6.3 & fig. 9, and may not slope more than a certain percentage, see id. § 4.6.3. Van-accessible parking spaces must be designated with special signs. See id. § 4.6.4.

Given these numerous and significant similarities, we conclude a van-access aisle is an architectural improvement designed to aid persons with disabilities for purposes of section 681.011(c) of the Transportation Code. Moreover, we can surmise no reason for concluding that obstructing an access or curb ramp is an offense under section 681.011(c) of the Transportation Code, but obstructing a van-access aisle, which has the same purpose and function as a ramp, is not an offense. Particularly in light of the fact that section 681.011 as a whole appears to cover any wrongful use of a disabled parking space, we believe that no person could fail to be on notice that obstructing a van-access aisle is an offense. Thus, our conclusion comports with our duty to strictly construe this criminal statute. See Agey, 172 S.W.2d at 974; International G.N. Ry. Co., 179 S.W. at 868; Howell, 899 S.W.2d at 704.

Accordingly, parking a vehicle so as to block a van-access aisle is an offense under section 681.011(c) of the Transportation Code and is punishable under section 681.011(g)-(k).

SUMMARY

Parking a vehicle so as to block a van-access aisle is an offense under section 681.011(c) of the Texas Transportation Code.

JOHN CORNYN
Attorney General of Texas

ANDY TAYLOR
First Assistant Attorney General

CLARK KENT ERVIN
Deputy Attorney General - General Counsel

ELIZABETH ROBINSON
Chair, Opinion Committee

Prepared by Kymberly K. Oltrogge
Assistant Attorney General