Don't understand court ruling

[lbb87]

I recently read an article in the Washington Post about a guy named Robert Eberth who fought a parking ticket in Prince William County, Virginia and won.

He had his car parked in the private parking lot of the apartment complex where he lives, and the police gave him a ticket because the car had an invalid inspection sticker. The article said he broke the county code 13-322 which states vehicles must have a valid inspection sticker if parked on a public road.

The case went all the way to the Virginia Court of Appeals which ended up saying Prince William County has no authority to issue tickets on vehicles with an invalid inspection sticker regardless of whether they're parked on public or private property. One of the judges said that state law only prohibits the operation of a vehicle with an invalid inspection sticker. The county has been ordered to stop ticketing vehicles with invalid inspection stickers. However, the county is hurrying to pass a law that would allow them to give tickets to vehicles with an invalid inspection sticker.


Here's what I don't understand. If the county code under 13-322 already states that vehicles must have a valid inspection sticker then why is the county wrong? Why would they be trying to pass the same law that's been in affect since 1965?

Here's exactly what 13-322 says:
Sec. 13-322. Prohibition against parking of vehicle under certain conditions.
(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to park, keep or permit to be parked or kept any motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer, in or on any public highway, street, alley, public easement or other public thoroughfare in the county, or any other area in the county subject to regulations by the county, unless:
(1) The motor vehicle shall be currently inspected and approved in accordance with the provisions of the laws of the state;
(2) The vehicle shall be currently registered and licensed to be operated upon the highways of this state in accordance with the provisions of the laws of this state and a valid state license plate shall be visibly displayed; and
(3) The vehicle shall be currently licensed to be operated upon the highways of the county in accordance with the laws of the county, and the county motor vehicle sticker shall be visibly displayed. (Code 1965, § 12.1-145; No. 85-42, 4-23-85)



There's also a law in the county under 32-250.61 - Storage of Inoperative Vehicles Prohibited Except for Certain Uses
Notwithstanding any other provision of this Chapter, inoperative vehicles shall be permitted only as follows:

1. in a lawful motor vehicle graveyard; or
2. in a lawful licensed vehicle impoundment yard for maximum of 90 days; or
3. secondary to a lawful motor vehicle repair facility for a maximum of 90 days; or
4. an accessory use to a lawful residential use for up to four (4) inoperative vehicles. Inoperative vehicles shall be stored in a fully enclosed building or shall be fully screened from view from abutting property and streets, in an approved parking area. (No. 04-78, 12-21-04)


So, it looks as if this guy also broke the code 32-250.61.

I just don't understand how this guy won. It looks as if he broke the law. Could someone please explain this to me. I must be missing something.

Here's the URL to the article: [url]http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/15/AR2007011501444_pf.html[/url]

[longneck]

ok, so the statue says you can't park a car with an invalid sticker. but where does it say that the county can issue a fine for such infraction?

[CdwJava]

It sounds like someone exceeded their authority. In my state we also cannot cite for vehicle registration issues in an apartment complex parking lot ... many ARE applicable in a shopping center parking lot because of its public nature, but not in an apartment complex.

Someone probably stretched some definitions a tad when they issued this citation.

- Carl

[lbb87]

What about if instead of charging the guy with 13-322, they had charged him with 32-250.61? It looks like 13-322 is talking about inoperative vehicles on public roads and this guy's car was on private property. But 32-250.61 refers to inoperative vehicles for residential districts. It says: Inoperative vehicles shall be stored in a fully enclosed building or shall be fully screened from view from abutting property and streets, in an approved parking area. So, shouldn't he have been charged with 32-250.61 instead of 13-322?

Also, 13-483 states: It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to keep, except within a fully enclosed building or structures or otherwise shielded or screened from view, on any property zoned or used for residential purposes, or on any property zoned for commercial or agricultural purposes, any inoperative vehicle as such are defined in Section 13-482. (No. 86-12, 2-11-86; No. 99-42, 6-22-99, effective 7-1-99; No. 05-43, 6-28-05, effective 7-1-05; No. 05-67, 10-4-05)
State law reference--Similar provisions, Code of Virginia §§ 15.2-905.

Failure to comply with 13-483 can result in the vehicle being removed from the property by the county.

So, shouldn't they had charged the guy with 13-483 or 32-250.61 instead? It just sounds to me like they charged him with the wrong thing and that he was indeed violating the law.

Any opinions on this?