Oak Park, IL Parking Rules: Abandoned Vehicles (2026)

Oak Park Village Code § 15-7-2 makes it unlawful to abandon any vehicle within the Village or to leave a vehicle anywhere under circumstances that make it reasonably appear abandoned. Section 15-7-3 separately targets vehicles left on the public way: no person may leave a partially dismantled, nonoperating, wrecked or junked vehicle on any street or highway in the Village. On private property, § 15-7-4 gives owners, tenants, occupants or lessees only twenty four (24) hours to clear a partially dismantled, nonoperating, wrecked, junked or discarded vehicle once one appears; three narrow exceptions apply, for a vehicle inside an enclosed building, a vehicle needed for a lawfully operated business enterprise, or a vehicle in a storage depository the Village maintains.

Under § 15-7-5, the Chief of Police or a designated officer can remove or have removed any vehicle left anywhere in the Village that reasonably appears to violate this article, or that is lost, stolen or unclaimed; an impounded vehicle is held until it is lawfully claimed or disposed of under 625 Illinois Compiled Statutes 5/4-201 through 5/4-214, the state vehicle-disposal statute the Village code incorporates by reference. Two related sections round out the article: § 15-7-6 requires anyone leaving a vehicle unattended in a public place or car lot to stop the engine, lock it, remove the key and set the brake, and § 15-7-8 makes the registered owner prima facie responsible whenever a vehicle is found in violation.

This article sits inside Chapter 15, Motor Vehicles and Traffic, and is separate from the Village's non-consent towing article, §§ 15-10-1 through 15-10-20, which governs how a vehicle found abandoned under this article is actually towed, noticed and released.