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State v. Robinette10/15/1996
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The recent case of State v. Snyder, 343 N.C. 61, 468 S.E.2d 221 (1996), is instructive in that the Supreme Court clarifies the term "public vehicular area" to encompass privately owned parking lots. In Snyder, the defendant was stopped in the parking lot of the Lost Dimensions Nightclub in Greensboro and charged with driving while impaired. Id. at 63, 468 S.E.2d at 222. At trial, the club manager testified that the club was private, that entry to the club was restricted to members and their guests during the club's business hours, and that the club was not open to the public. Id. at 64, 468 S.E.2d at 223. He further testified that the club did not allow non-members to use the club parking lot, that club members could use the parking lot only when they were inside the club, and that the club prohibited loitering in the parking lot. Id. Even though the club was private, the Supreme Court found the club parking lot to be a "public vehicular area" as a matter of law and upheld the defendant's conviction of driving while impaired. Id. at 69, 468 S.E.2d at 226. The Supreme Court stated that "even if an establishment is cloaked in the robe of being a private club, it is still a 'business establishment providing parking space for its customers, patrons, or the public' and cannot escape liability simply because a membership fee is required." Id.
As in Snyder, it is clear from the facts in the present case that the Speedy Car Wash parking lot is a "public vehicular area." It is open to the public year round, twenty-four hours a day. Patrons can park on the car wash premises any time as long as they are using the car wash facilities. The adoption of an ordinance by the Town evidenced by a sign prohibiting loitering in the parking lot does not change the nature of the property, since the car wash is still a business providing parking for its customers, and as such, the premises remains a "public vehicular area" according to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-4.01(32)(b)(1993).
Prohibitions against loitering assist in the operation of businesses open to the public, as loitering by non-patrons can deter customers, distract employees, and overcrowd the premises. Members of the public using the car wash premises, however, deserve no less protection from impaired drivers in its parking lot than they do on public streets or highways.
The trial court properly instructed the jury on the definition of "public vehicular area."
No error.
Judges EAGLES and MCGEE concur.
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