Parking in Sacramento City and County

At the law library, many questions arise regarding parking issues and restrictions within the City and County of Sacramento. The typical answer, as it is to most legal questions, is “it depends”. Parking violations can have many variations and each situation is truly unique to the circumstances involved with each incident such as signage, painted curbs, narrow streets, extended parking, disabled vehicles, vehicle storage, and many other parking aspects.

Anyone interested in local parking laws should research in the Sacramento County Code and the City of Sacramento Ordinances. Title 10: Vehicles and Traffic of the Sacramento County Code covers many of the common parking situations within the county. Beginning at Section 10.24.010, you can find county ordinances covering signs and curb markings, no parking zones, emergency parking, illegally parked vehicles, and parking in narrow and special places such as alleys and parkways. Section 10.24.180 discusses parking on private property. Title 12: Streets and Sidewalks of the Sacramento County Code governs public streets, intersections, and sidewalks including penalties and enforcement.

For the city of Sacramento, a variety of parking regulations are in Title 10: Vehicles and Traffic of the City of Sacramento Ordinances. Parking information includes parking meters, off-street parking, valet parking, residential permit parking, and parking violation enforcement procedures.

In addition to local city and county codes, if you have a Home Owners Association, when and where you can park is governed by the rules and regulations of the HOA rather than the City Code. For instance, the CC&Rs may specify that you can “park” your car (defined in the CC&Rs as moving the car within 72 hours) in the guest parking lot, but not “store” it there for longer than 72 hours.

rmm 06/2022