Huntington Park, CA Parking Rules: Abandoned Vehicles (2026)

Chapter 18 of Title 5 is the City's abandoned-vehicle abatement program, adopted under the State's authority to remove abandoned, wrecked, dismantled, or inoperative vehicles as public nuisances. The Council's findings in § 5-18.01 say that accumulating such vehicles, or parts of them, on private or public property, not including highways, reduces property values, promotes blight, invites plundering, creates fire hazards, is an attractive nuisance for minors, and harbors rodents and insects. Under § 5-18.02, a highway is a publicly maintained way open to vehicular travel and includes a street, so a vehicle on the street is outside this chapter.

The Police Chief administers and enforces the chapter (§ 5-18.05) and can enter private or public property to examine a vehicle, identify it, and remove it. Two exceptions in § 5-18.03 apply: a vehicle completely enclosed within a building in a lawful manner where it is not visible from the street or other property, and a vehicle stored or parked lawfully on private property in connection with a licensed dismantler, licensed vehicle dealer, or junk dealer, or as necessary to a lawfully conducted business.

The process runs from § 5-18.09 through § 5-18.15. A 10 day notice of intention to abate is sent by registered mail to the owner of the land and the owner of the vehicle. Either can ask for a public hearing within 10 days, and a land owner can instead submit a sworn written statement denying responsibility, which counts as a hearing request without an appearance. Hearings go before the Abandoned Vehicle Board, made up of the Police Chief, the Chief Administrative Officer, and the City Attorney, with two members needed for a quorum and two votes needed for a decision. A land owner is not charged if the vehicle was placed on the land without consent and the owner has not acquiesced. Appeals go to the Council by written notice within five days of the Board's decision. Removal to a scrapyard or dismantler's yard can follow five days after the order or the notice of decision, or 15 days after Council action on an appeal, and the Department of Motor Vehicles is notified within five days of removal. Administrative and removal costs unpaid after 30 days are assessed against the parcel under Government Code § 38773.5.