Arvada, CO Parking Rules: Abandoned Vehicles (2026)

Arvada City Code Sec. 62-35 makes it unlawful to abandon a motor vehicle on any street, highway, right-of-way, or public property, or on private property without the express consent of the property owner or person in lawful charge. The code defines "abandon" as leaving a vehicle with the intent not to retain possession of or assert ownership over it, and that intent does not have to coincide with the act of leaving. Five circumstances create prima facie evidence of that intent: the vehicle sits unattended and unmoved for more than seven days outside a public parking garage; its license plates or other identifying marks are removed; it is damaged or deteriorated to the point it has only junk or salvage value; a law enforcement agency notified the owner to remove it and three days passed without removal; or the vehicle sat in a public parking garage more than 30 days.

Subsection (d) separately bans leaving or parking an inoperable vehicle (no current plate or tag, wrecked, in major disassembly, in disrepair, or otherwise incapable of moving under its own power) on a street, right-of-way, or public property, and subsection (e) presumes the registered owner committed the violation unless he shows the vehicle was in another person's care at the time. The Arvada police chief or a designee investigates suspected violations. Under Sec. 54-213(a)(2), an officer with probable cause that a vehicle is abandoned or inoperable under Sec.

62-35 may order it towed to an impound facility. Sec. 54-214 then requires written notice to the registered owner within 72 hours, gives the owner ten calendar days to request a hearing before a city-appointed hearing officer, and provides that an unclaimed, unpaid vehicle is sold 30 days after impoundment.