Fall River, MA Parking Rules: Abandoned Vehicles (2026)

The core rule is § 14-342 of the Fall River City Code, found in Chapter 14, Article IX (Junk Collectors). It reaches five kinds of vehicle: dismantled, unserviceable, junked, abandoned, and any vehicle "legally or physically incapable of being operated." The last phrase means a vehicle can fail the test on paperwork or on mechanics, and the section does not list which defects count. The trigger is keeping the vehicle "in the open," a phrase the section does not define, on "public or private property," so a vacant lot, a yard and a street are all covered by the same sentence.

The section also reaches owners who do not do the storing themselves. It prohibits a person who will "deposit, store, keep or permit to be deposited, stored or kept" such a vehicle, so a landowner who lets someone else leave a car on the property is inside the rule. The section names no exemption for hobby cars, seasonal storage or vehicles awaiting repair. The only way out is the license.

That license is a junk dealer's license. Section 14-341 ties it to § 14-371, which requires the license to come from the City Council in accordance with G.L. c. 140, §§ 54 through 56. The Article X procedure then applies. Under § 14-372 the City Clerk advertises the application, with the business location, in one or more daily newspapers and announces a public hearing before the City Council or a committee, and the applicant pays for the advertisement. Under § 14-373, an application for a yard or outside storage also requires notice by certified mail, at the applicant's expense, to the owners of abutting land and of land directly opposite, taken from the most recent local tax list (amended 9-26-2023). A holder of a valid license at the same location skips the advertising and hearing when applying again. Under § 14-374 the Council can revoke the license "at the pleasure of the City Council" if the operator breaks the City's rules, bylaws or ordinances.

A second, street-only rule sits in Chapter 70. Section 70-312(D), added 12-15-2020 by Ord. No. 2020-16, makes any unregistered motor vehicle on any street, way, road or parkway a violation unless it displays a valid registration plate under G.L. c. 90, § 9. Section 70-312(C) adds an expired-inspection rule for a sticker more than one month out of date, with each day a separate offense.