Section 212.115. Posting of private parking lots

(a) General. Posting of private property, including parking lots, giving notice to the public of parking restrictions as required by 75 Pa.C.S. § § 3353(b)(2) and 3354(d)(3) (relating to prohibition in specified places; and additional parking regulations) must be in accordance with this section.

(b) Public notice signs.

(1) The legend on public notice signs at private parking lots must indicate the restrictions which apply. In addition to a primary restriction such as those contained in subparagraph (i), the sign may contain one or more supplemental restrictions or messages of the type included in subparagraph (ii).

(i) Primary restrictions include messages such as private parking, parking by permit only, authorized parking only, private parking for (

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) apartment and parking only for patrons of (

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).

(ii) Secondary restrictions or messages may include applicable hours of the day, applicable days of the week, applicable charges and warnings that unauthorized vehicles may be towed.

(iii) The name and telephone number of the owner or other person in control or possession of the property should also be included on the legend.

(2) Public notice signs should be erected at each entrance to the private parking lot and positioned so as to face traffic entering the lot. If there are no designated entrances—such as when a lot has one or more sides continuously open to a roadway—one or more signs should be erected so as to be readily visible to an ordinarily observant driver. Minimum message size shall be as follows:

(i) A primary restriction as defined in paragraph (1)(i) must have a minimum letter height of 3 inches. Signs erected at a distance of more than 75 feet from an entrance point must have letter height which is at least one additional inch in high for each 25-foot interval in the distance. The stroke width of the legend must be a minimum of 1/8 of the required height of the legend.

(ii) A secondary restriction as defined in paragraph (1)(ii) must have minimum dimensions equal to one-half of the minimum dimensions required for the primary restriction, except the letter height must be at least 2 inches.

(3) Signs which have application during hours of darkness must have a retroreflectorized sign message or background and be positioned so as to be illuminated by the headlight beams of entering vehicles, or the sign may be illuminated during applicable hours of darkness so as to be readily visible to an ordinarily observant driver.

(4) Under 75 Pa.C.S. § 3353(b), the prosecution of an owner or towing a vehicle from a private parking lot is prohibited unless restrictions are posted in accordance with this subsection.

(c) Reserved parking signs or markings.

(1) Special signs may be used to reserve designated parking stalls for named persons or classes of people, for particular vehicles, or for persons with special placards or assigned permit numbers. When used, these signs may be erected at the front of each parking stall or, in the case of parallel parking, at intervals not exceeding 100 feet along the side of the stalls. The minimum size sign must be 12 inches by 12 inches, and the minimum size message must be 2 inches in height.

(2) In lieu of signs to designate parking stalls as noted in subsection (a), pavement markings may be used on the pavement or an applicable curb for this purpose if:

(i) The public notice sign indicates that a permit is required.

(ii) The markings are readily visible to an ordinarily observant driver.

(3) The Reserved Parking Sign (R7-8) shall be used to designate reserved parking stalls for handicapped persons or severely disabled veterans. The Reserved Parking Penalties Sign (R7-8f), which indicates the minimum and maximum fine for violators and that violators may be towed, shall be installed below the Reserved Parking Sign (R7-8).

(4) Parking stalls designated under paragraph (3) for handicapped persons or severely disabled veterans may only be used by vehicles bearing a handicapped person or severely disabled veteran registration plate or displaying a handicapped person or severely disabled veteran parking placard issued by the Commonwealth or another state.

(5) Whenever signs required to implement the provisions of paragraph (3) become either obsolete or missing, they must be replaced with new official signs as rapidly as is feasible. The costs associated with the installation and replacement of the required signs for a particular location must be borne by the owner or person in control or possession of the property on which the signs are to be erected.