Coconut Creek, FL Parking Rules: Abandoned Vehicles (2026)

Section 6-39 of the Coconut Creek Code covers abandoned real and personal property. Abandoned personal property includes wrecked, inoperative or partially dismantled motor vehicles, trailers and boats left unprotected from the elements. An inoperative vehicle is one parked or stored without all wheels mounted, in substantial disrepair, without inflated tires, or without a current license and registration. Subsection (f) declares all abandoned personal property a public nuisance, and subsection (e) makes it unlawful to abandon personal property on private property without the owner's consent.

The process starts when an enforcement officer, meaning any full-time law enforcement officer, building official, zoning inspector, code enforcement officer, fire inspector or building inspector employed in the city, finds an article with nominal salvage value abandoned on private property. The officer follows the notice provisions of F.S. § 162.12, as amended. Five days after notice is posted, the officer can have the article removed and destroyed, and any salvage value is kept by the city against removal costs. On public or private land, the city can instead have a towing company remove the article to storage. If the unclaimed article is worth more than $100, the towing company pays the city $25 or 10 percent of the value, whichever is greater. If the owner claims it, the city receives a $25 administrative fee.

Once a property is posted, subsection (h)(3) makes it unlawful to move abandoned personal property, including an inoperative vehicle, from private property to public property. An imminent public health and safety hazard can be removed immediately, and a private property owner is then billed for removal and any required cleanup. The section is cumulative: it adds a remedy on top of any state, county or local provision. Section 6-36(b)(10) separately sends vehicle parking and maintenance questions to Chapter 19 of the Code.