Petaluma, CA Parking Rules: Abandoned Vehicles (2026)

California Vehicle Code Sec. 22660 authorizes a county to adopt an ordinance establishing procedures for the abatement and removal, as public nuisances, of abandoned, wrecked, dismantled, or inoperative vehicles, and for recovery of administration and removal costs. Sonoma County exercises this authority through Chapter 18, Article IV of the County Code ('Abandoned, Wrecked, Dismantled or Inoperative Vehicles'), which covers such vehicles on private or public property in the unincorporated area. Permit Sonoma's Code Enforcement Division administers the abatement program and runs a voluntary, free junk-vehicle removal service: property owners and occupants in unincorporated areas can have non-operable passenger cars, pickups, SUVs, and vans towed away at no cost and without the usual DMV paperwork, provided the owner gives written permission and understands the vehicle will be dismantled (recreational-vehicle storage yards and auto repair shops are excluded). Requests are submitted through the County's SoCo Connect system. The County's jurisdiction is split by location: Permit Sonoma handles abandoned vehicles on private property, privately maintained roads, and County-owned property in unincorporated areas; abandoned vehicles on public streets and highways should be reported to the California Highway Patrol; and vehicles within any incorporated city are handled by that city's police department.