(a) Except as provided in § 12-10-109(e), no state agency, county, city, town or other municipality or any agency thereof shall exact any fee for parking on any street or highway or in any metered parking space or in parking lots municipally owned or leased, or both municipally owned and leased, or a parking place owned or leased, or both owned and leased, by a municipal parking utility or authority. No state postsecondary education institution or any agent thereof shall exact any fee from any visitor to the institution, or from any visitor attending programs of the institution not for credit, for parking on any parking lot owned or leased by a state postsecondary education institution, or both owned and leased by a state postsecondary education institution. The parking privileges granted by this section are limited to any disabled driver or disabled passenger to whom the distinctive license plates or placards were issued, and to qualified operators acting under the express direction of a disabled passenger to whom the distinctive license plate or placards were issued, while the disabled person is a passenger in the motor vehicle. Any disabled veteran who qualifies for and receives a disabled veteran’s license plate shall also be afforded the same privileges as granted to a disabled person who qualifies for and receives a disabled license plate or placard as provided for in § 55-21-103.
Disabled passenger: is a person who meets the requirements for disabled drivers established in subdivisions (3)(A)-(C). See Tennessee Code 55-21-102
Disabled veteran: means a disabled driver who is a former member of the United States armed forces or a former or current member of a reserve or Tennessee national guard unit who was called into active military service of the United States, as defined in §. See Tennessee Code 55-21-102
Driver: means :(A) For purposes of a conventionally operated vehicle, every person who drives or is in actual physical control of a vehicle. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
Highway: means the entire width between the boundary lines of every way when any part thereto is open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
Owner: means a person who holds the legal title of a vehicle, or in the event a vehicle is the subject of an agreement for the conditional sale or lease thereof, with the right of purchase upon performance of the conditions stated in the agreement and with an immediate right of possession vested in the conditional vendee or lessee, or in the event a mortgagor of a vehicle is entitled to possession, then the conditional vendee or lessee or mortgagor shall be deemed the owner for the purpose of this chapter and chapter 10, parts 1-5 of this title. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
Person: means a natural person, firm, copartnership, association, corporation, or an engaged ADS. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
Street: means the entire width between boundary lines of every way when any part thereof is open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
Vehicle: means every device in, upon or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway, excepting devices used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
(b)(1) Any business, firm, or other person transacting business with the public from a permanent location shall provide specially marked parking spaces for the exclusive use of persons qualifying for the rights and privileges extended by this part.(2) The number of accessible parking spaces shall be:
1 to 25
1
26 to 50
2
51 to 75
3
76 to 100
4
101 to 150
5
151 to 200
6
201 to 300
7
301 to 400
8
401 or greater
9
(3) In addition, if there are no less than four (4) parking spaces designated with the wheelchair disabled sign or symbol of access, then at least one (1) of the parking spaces shall be van accessible, but if more than four (4) spaces are designated as disabled parking spaces, then at least two (2) spaces per eight (8) disabled parking spaces shall be van accessible. A van accessible parking space shall be at least eight feet (8′) wide and shall have an adjacent access aisle that is at least eight feet (8′) wide.(4) The access aisle shall be located on the passenger side of the parking space except that two (2) adjacent accessible parking spaces may share a common access aisle.(5) Van accessible parking spaces shall have an additional sign marked “Van Accessible – Priority for Wheelchair User” mounted below the sign required by subsection (c). The van accessible parking spaces may have an additional sign marked “Priority Should Be Given to Disabled Van Access. Other Disabled Vehicles Should Use Only If No Other Available Disabled Spaces” mounted below other required signs. Van accessible parking spaces are not restricted to disabled van access; provided, that disabled vehicles other than vans should not use van accessible parking spaces when another accessible disabled parking space is available.(c) Each such parking space must be marked and maintained with the stylized wheelchair symbol designated by § 55-21-104, as that section existed on June 30, 2020; provided, that such parking spaces may, at the discretion of the owner, be marked with the symbol of access designated under § 55-21-104, to the extent that such marking complies with federal law. The marking may be by a sign on a pole. Nonconforming markings or signs shall be acceptable during the useful life of the markings or signs, which may not be extended by other than normal maintenance as long as the markings or signs provide reasonable notice of the specially marked parking space.(d) The department is authorized to enter into reciprocal agreements with similar authorities in other states whereby holders of disabled license plates or distinguishing placards in those states may be granted the same parking privileges granted by this section.(e)(1) Any business, firm, or other person transacting business that provides specially marked parking spaces pursuant to this part shall also provide van-accessible parking spaces. Van-accessible parking spaces shall have an access aisle that is no less than ninety-six inches (96″) to accommodate a wheelchair lift, have vertical clearance to accommodate van height at the van parking space and adjacent access aisle, and have an additional sign or marking identifying the parking space as van accessible.(2) This subsection (e) shall apply to businesses, firms, or persons conducting business with the public from a permanent location who provide specially marked parking spaces after April 24, 2006. Businesses, firms, or persons conducting business with the public from a permanent location who provide specially marked parking spaces on or before April 24, 2006, shall comply with this subsection (e) when it is readily achievable. For the purposes of this subsection (e), “readily achievable” means easily accomplishable and able to be carried out without considerable difficulty or expense.(3) A business, firm or person conducting business with the public from a permanent location who provides only one (1) specially marked parking space shall convert such specially marked parking space into a van-accessible parking space when such conversion is readily achievable.
