§ 6. FIRE LANES

A.

DEFINITIONS

(1)

Fire apparatus access road.

A road that provides fire apparatus access from a fire station to a facility, building or portion thereof. This is a general term inclusive of all other terms such as safety zone, fire lane, public street, private street, parking lot lane and access roadway.

(2)

Fire lane.

A road, safety zone or other passageway developed to allow the passage of fire apparatus. A fire lane is not necessarily intended for vehicular traffic other than fire apparatus.

B.

PERMIT AND INSPECTION

The City Fire Marshall or his designee shall perform all Fire Code inspections or investigations and enforce the requirements associated with the Standard Fire Prevention and Safety Codes adopted by reference in Section 1, subsection A of Chapter 5 of the City Code of Ordinances. All developments requiring fire apparatus access roads will be reviewed and approved by the Fire Marshall or his designee before a development permit can be issued.

C.

FIRE LANE SPECIFICATIONS

(1)

Dimensions.

Fire apparatus access roads shall have an unobstructed width of not less than twenty (20) feet, and an unobstructed vertical clearance of not less than thirteen (13) feet six (6) inches.

(2)

Surface.

Fire apparatus access roads shall be designed and maintained to support the imposed loads of fire apparatus weighing seventy-five thousand (75,000) pounds and shall be surfaced with asphalt or concrete to provide all-weather driving capabilities.

(3)

Marking.

Curbs located on either side of a fire lane shall be painted RED or a six-inch RED stripe shall be placed along the pavement where there is no curb. Where a fire lane passes between head-in parking spaces, the red stripe should be placed along the rear of these spaces clearly defining the fire lane. Painted curbs and fire lane stripes shall also be marked with the warning "FIRE LANE-TOW AWAY ZONE" in white letters at least four (4) inches in height, at intervals not exceeding fifty (50) feet.

D.

PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS

(1)

Any person, firm, or corporation who shall violate any of the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined in an amount consistent with the City of Santa Fe, Texas, City Code, Article 1, Section 5, General penalty for violation of code in an amount not to exceed two thousand dollars ($2,000.00) per violation, with each continuing days violation constituting a separate offense.

(2)

Parking or standing in a designated fire apparatus access road will result in a Class C misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined in accordance to Santa Fe Municipal Court fines of not less than one hundred twenty dollars ($125.00) per violation.

(Ordinance No. 15-2015 of December 10, 2015, Sec. 1)