Columbus, IN Parking Rules: Abandoned Vehicles (2026)

Chapter 10.48 of the Columbus Municipal Code opens with a finding in § 10.48.010 that the Common Council considers abandoned, unlicensed and inoperable vehicles a public nuisance and a safety and health hazard. Section 10.48.095(A) makes it a violation to keep, park or store unlicensed or inoperable vehicles or parts on public property, including city right-of-way. Section 10.30.040 separately makes it unlawful to keep any disabled or unlicensed vehicle or boat on any right-of-way in the city.

Section 10.48.030 supplies the definitions. An abandoned vehicle includes one on public property illegally, one left on public property without being moved for three days (thirty days for a properly licensed vehicle in front of the owner's legal or temporary residence), and one that creates a hazard or obstruction to pedestrian or vehicle traffic. An inoperable vehicle is partially dismantled, mechanically inoperable, or unsafe to drive, such as one with missing wheels, flat tires or significant collision damage. An unlicensed vehicle lacks a plate displaying the current registration sticker.

The process in § 10.48.095(B) runs through a code enforcement officer or police officer. The warning or written demand gives thirty days from receipt to remove the vehicle or correct the problem. If that fails, a citation requires action within ten days. If the vehicle is still there, a court of competent jurisdiction can order it removed and assess removal and storage costs to the owner or the person occupying the property. A removed vehicle not claimed within fifteen days can be sold under Indiana Code 9-22-1, a state chapter the city's text cites.

On private land, § 10.48.090 starts the clock when a property owner or occupant complains that a vehicle has sat on the property for forty-eight hours or more without consent. The officer then follows the tag procedure of § 10.48.060: a notice tag, a seventy-two hour wait, and a tow to storage. Section 10.48.020 exempts raceway vehicles, vehicles of active-duty armed forces members, vehicles on sale lots or at commercial vehicle servicing facilities, vehicles on property properly used as a repair business or licensed or zoned as an automobile scrapyard, and registered antique vehicles.