Hawthorne, CA Parking Rules: Abandoned Vehicles (2026)
Key Facts
- State authority
- Vehicle Code § 22660
- Notice period
- 10 days, registered/certified mail
- Hearing request window
- 10 days from notice
- Unpaid cost recourse
- Special assessment/lien on parcel
- Post-removal
- Vehicle sent to scrapyard, may not be reconstructed
Summary
Hawthorne declares abandoned, wrecked, dismantled or inoperative vehicles on private or public property a public nuisance. The chief of police can order removal after a 10-day notice, with a right to a city council hearing before abatement.
The accumulation and storage of abandoned, wrecked, dismantled or inoperative vehicles or parts thereof on private or public property, not including highways, is found to create a condition tending to reduce the value of private property, to promote blight and deterioration, to invite plundering, to create fire hazards, to constitute an attractive nuisance creating a hazard to the health and safety of minors, to create a harborage for rodents and insects and to be injurious to the health, safety and general welfare. Therefore, the presence of an abandoned, wrecked, dismantled or inoperative vehicle or parts thereof, on private or public property not including highways, except as expressly hereinafter permitted, is declared to constitute a public nuisance which may be abated as such in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
Full Breakdown
68 of the Hawthorne Municipal Code implements the authority the state grants cities under Vehicle Code Section 22660 to treat abandoned, wrecked, dismantled or inoperative vehicles as public nuisances. 010 finds that accumulating such vehicles on private or public property, not including highways, reduces property values, promotes blight, invites plundering, creates fire hazards, forms an attractive nuisance to minors, harbors rodents and insects, and injures public health, safety and welfare, and it declares the presence of such a vehicle a public nuisance abatable under the chapter.
030 exempt vehicles completely enclosed in a building and not visible from the street, and vehicles lawfully stored on private property in connection with a licensed dismantler, vehicle dealer, junk dealer, or a lawfully conducted business. 090, the chief of police, upon discovering a qualifying vehicle, must mail a 10-day notice of intention to abate and remove by registered or certified mail to both the landowner and the vehicle's registered owner. Either owner may request a public hearing before the city council within that 10-day window; if no hearing is requested, the chief of police may abate and remove the vehicle without one.
100 puts the abatement and cost-assessment questions before the council. Once an abatement order becomes final, five days later, or five days after notice of decision, or fifteen days after a council decision on appeal, the vehicle may be removed to a scrapyard or dismantler's yard and may never be reconstructed or made operable again. The Department of Motor Vehicles must be notified of the removal within five days, along with any registration or title evidence.
Violations & Fines
Unpaid administrative and removal costs charged against a property owner under § 10.68.110 that remain unpaid thirty days after the abatement order, or after final disposition of any appeal, are assessed against the parcel under Government Code Section 38773.5 and transmitted to the tax collector, carrying the same priority as other city taxes and effectively becoming a lien collectible with the owner's property tax bill.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much notice does Hawthorne give before removing an abandoned vehicle?
Can a Hawthorne property owner contest an abandoned vehicle order?
Are business vehicles exempt from Hawthorne's abandoned vehicle ordinance?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Hawthorne
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Abandoned Vehicles in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Los Angeles County handle abandoned vehicles.