Grand Junction, CO Parking Rules: Abandoned Vehicles (2026)
Key Facts
- Public right-of-way threshold
- Unattended 24 hours or more
- Tow operator notice
- Must notify police within 1 hour
- Hearing request window
- 10 days after learning of impound
- Hearing held within
- 48 hours of written demand
- Enforcing agency
- Grand Junction Police Department
Summary
In the City of Grand Junction, GJMC § 10.12.010 bars abandoning a motor vehicle on someone else's private property and lets police order a vehicle towed after it sits unattended on a street or right-of-way for 24 hours or more and is presumed abandoned under state law.
(a) No person shall abandon any motor vehicle upon private property within the City other than his or her own. Subject to other provisions of law concerning junk and/or inoperable motor vehicles, any owner or lessee of property within this municipality, or the owner or lessee’s agent, may have an abandoned motor vehicle removed from his or her property by having it towed and impounded by a tow operator. ... Whenever any police officer finds a vehicle, attended or unattended, standing upon any portion of a street or highway right-of-way within this municipality in such a manner as to constitute a violation of Section 10-5 of the 1977 version of the Model Traffic Code, or left unattended for a period of 24 hours or more and presumed to be abandoned under the conditions prescribed by § 42-4-2102, C.R.S., such officer shall require such vehicle to be removed or cause the same to be removed and placed in storage in the nearest garage or other place of safety designated or maintained by this municipality.
Full Breakdown
Grand Junction Municipal Code § 10.12.010(a) makes it unlawful to abandon a motor vehicle on private property belonging to someone else, and separately lets any property owner, lessee or their agent have an abandoned vehicle towed and impounded by a private tow operator without City involvement; subsection (b) requires that tow operator to notify the Police Department within one hour with the vehicle's location, description, plate number and VIN. On public streets and rights-of-way, subsection (c) gives a police officer authority to order removal of a vehicle standing in violation of Section 10-5 of the 1977 Model Traffic Code, or left unattended for 24 hours or more and presumed abandoned under Colorado Revised Statutes § 42-4-2102, with the vehicle stored at the nearest City-designated garage.
Subsection (d) builds in due process for a City-ordered tow: the registered owner or an agent has 10 days after learning of the impound, or 10 days after the mailed notice of stored vehicle, to demand a post-seizure hearing before a City Manager-designated hearing officer, who must hold that hearing within 48 hours (excluding weekends and City holidays) and decide only whether there was probable cause to impound. If the hearing officer finds no probable cause, the vehicle is released on presentation of a certificate to that effect and the City, not the owner, pays the towing and storage fees; failing to present that certificate within 24 hours shifts subsequent storage costs back onto the owner. The hearing-officer process in subsection (d) does not apply to a vehicle towed from private property under subsection (a).
Violations & Fines
Abandoning a vehicle on another person's private property is unlawful under GJMC § 10.12.010(a), and a vehicle left unattended 24 hours or more on a public street or right-of-way is presumed abandoned under Colo. Rev. Stat. § 42-4-2102 and can be towed on a police officer's order. Towing and storage costs fall on the registered owner unless a post-seizure hearing finds no probable cause to impound, in which case the City pays.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long can a car sit unattended on the street before it's considered abandoned?
Can I have a neighbor's abandoned car towed from my property myself?
How do I contest a City tow of my car?
Who pays towing costs if the impound is overturned?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Grand Junction
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