Bonita Springs, FL Parking Rules: Abandoned Vehicles (2026)

Chapter 20, Article V of the city code, cited as the Bonita Springs Motor Vehicle Towing Ordinance, targets accumulation and storage of abandoned, junked or discarded motor vehicles on public and private property. Section 20-130 defines motor vehicle broadly: passenger cars, trucks, trailers, truck-trailers, semitrailers, campers, recreational vehicles, go-carts, all-terrain vehicles, snowmobiles, amphibious craft on land, dune buggies, racing vehicles and motorcycles.

Section 20-131(a) applies to the owner, occupant, lessee, agent, tenant or anyone else who accumulates, stores or deposits such a vehicle, or permits it. The two exceptions are a vehicle completely enclosed within a building and a vehicle connected with a business enterprise lawfully situated and licensed for that purpose. Section 20-131(b) supplies the proof: no license plate for the current year, or no current registration, is prima facie evidence of abandonment. A current plate or registration does not by itself exempt a vehicle.

Section 20-132 makes storage of one or more such vehicles a nuisance. The county sheriff, his authorized deputies, or the city code enforcement manager and designees post a notice on the vehicle stating the date, the owner if a diligent search finds one, and that it must be removed and lawfully stored within ten days of posting or be towed. The vehicle is not returned until removal and storage costs are paid and arrangements are made to repair or dispose of it. Owners of the vehicle or of the real property can demand a public hearing before the zoning board before removal, but the written request must reach the City Clerk at Bonita Springs City Hall within ten days of posting or the right is waived.

Section 20-133 has the sheriff or code enforcement manager tow the vehicle when the owner refuses or cannot be located, with a search warrant when required by law, and adopts F.S. § 705.101 et seq. by reference. Separately, Section 10-98 declares an inoperative vehicle kept on public property, including streets and rights-of-way, a nuisance, and requires a vehicle that becomes disabled on public property to be removed within 24 hours.