Request By:
Honorable William Miles Arvin
Attorney at Law
Bronaugh Building
Nicholasville, Kentucky 40356
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Walter C. Herdman, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
This is in answer to your letter of September 8 in which you request an opinion concerning the following:
"The City of Nicholasville, in effort to assist the merchants of its downtown area, has leased parking space on its Main Street for loading and unloading purposes only when the merchant has no other access to the rear. The question has been raised as to whether this is an appropriate and lawful action by the City. Additionally, if this is a proper function of the City there is the further question as to whether the City is required to police these leased areas and guarantee vacancy during business hours."
As you know, of course, a city has complete control over its streets and neither a person in private business nor county nor state authorities can interfere with the city government in the management of its streets. See City of Falmouth v. Pendleton County Court, 308 Ky. 526, 215 S.W.2d 101 (1948).
Since the right to install parking meters is a police measure for the purpose of regulating traffic and for the general safety and welfare of the public, no individual, as we mentioned above, even though he is operating his business along such street, has any right to a parking area of his own where the city has designated such area as a parking meter zone. Of course, every city has the right to establish loading and unloading zones throughout the parking meter area, particularly in front of hotels, bus stations, etc., for the obvious convenience of the public and they also have the right, and do, in fact, establish loading and unloading zones in the general business area for the convenience of the merchants, particularly where there is no ingress and egress to their particular business other than the street in front of their establishment. Of course, in such case, parking meters must be removed. There can be no discrimination in the establishing of such zones and technically any business house in the vicinity may use this particular area for loading and unloading purposes.
The question of charging a monthly or yearly rate for the exclusive use of a loading and unloading zone has never been adjudicated, so far as we can determine, however, we believe that such a practice would constitute discrimination by permitting the exclusive use of a parking space in a meter zone by a particular merchant since, as pointed out previously, we believe that an unloading zone, when so established, is for the general use of any merchant in the vicinity.
Referring to the case of Andrews v. City of Marion, 221 Ind., 422, 47 N.E. (2d) 968, we find the court holding, in effect, that:
"An abutting owner has the same rights as other members of the public to use a street in front of his premises, and has the additional right of ingress and egress. When he parks his automobile in front of his premises he does so as a member of the public, and in so doing is subject to reasonable traffic and parking regulations. The right of ingress and egress includes the right to stop vehicles in front of his property for the purpose of loading and unloading passengers and merchandise, but it does not include the privilege of storing the abutting owner's automobile in front of his property."
The above case is somewhat similar to the case of Allsmiller v. Johnson, Chief of Police, 309 Ky. 695, 218 S.W.2d 28 (1949), to which we refer and indicates that no abutting owner is entitled to the exclusive use of a loading and unloading zone and, as a consequence, he is not entitled to pay a monthly rental fee for such exclusive use, or so it appears to us.
In view of the above, your additional question becomes moot except that in the event the designated loading and unloading spaces are established without charge, they can and should of course be policed as a traffic measure to prevent unauthorized parking.