Calvert County, MD Parking Rules: Abandoned Vehicles (2026)

Chapter 142, adopted March 24, 1998 by Ordinance No. 9-98, defines an ABANDONED VEHICLE as any vehicle left unattended for 48 hours or more, and defines VEHICLE broadly to include an automobile, truck, motorcycle, boat, trailer, machinery or equipment, not just cars. Section 142-2 prohibits leaving any such vehicle unattended for 48 hours or more on county-owned public right-of-way or county-owned property. Under § 142-3, the county government agency responsible for administering the property where the vehicle sits must arrange removal, and abandoned vehicles are towed and stored by private towing companies at the owner's expense rather than the County's.

Section 142-4 requires immediate removal, without waiting out the 48-hour period, when the vehicle impedes or is likely to impede traffic, violates any federal, state or local law, sits in a zone limited to certain vehicle classes or with posted parking restrictions, poses an immediate danger to public safety, or obstructs law enforcement, fire, emergency, snow or debris operations. Section 142-5 requires the agency to make reasonable efforts to identify the owner after removal and to send written notice stating the removal date, the vehicle's location, and that the owner bears all removal costs.

This chapter reaches only county-owned rights-of-way and county-owned property; it does not regulate a vehicle left on private property, which falls instead under the county's separate property maintenance and zoning provisions.