Idaho Falls, ID Parking Rules: Abandoned Vehicles (2026)

Section 9-4-27 of the Idaho Falls City Code targets a particular kind of vehicle in a particular kind of place. The vehicle must be disabled, unlicensed, or inoperable. The ordinance joins those conditions with "or," so any of them is enough. A car that runs but is unlicensed is covered, and so is a licensed car that cannot move.

The place must be a street or alley within the City. Alleys are named alongside streets, so moving a dead vehicle from the front of a lot to the alley behind it does not take it outside the rule.

The limit is a period exceeding twenty-four (24) consecutive hours. Consecutive means the time is counted as a single unbroken stretch on the street or alley.

The ordinance also reaches beyond the person who left the vehicle there. It is unlawful to park or store the vehicle, and it is equally unlawful to allow it to be parked or stored. Because both parking and storing are listed, describing the vehicle as stored instead of parked changes nothing.

The term motor vehicle is not left to everyday usage. Subsection (2) says that, for purposes of this section, motor vehicle is defined as set forth in Idaho Code 49-123(V)(h).

Section 9-4-27 sits beside 9-4-26, which gives licensed and operable vehicles a 48-hour window before the street-storage limit applies. In practice the condition and licensing of the vehicle decide which clock runs in Idaho Falls: the 48-hour window if it is licensed and operable, and 24 consecutive hours if it is disabled, unlicensed, or inoperable. The history note for the section cites Ord. 3276, 10-10-19 and Ord. 3537, 9-14-23.