Port St. Lucie, FL Parking Rules: Abandoned Vehicles (2026)

Section 90.01(a) of the Abandoned Vehicles chapter makes it unlawful to park, store, or leave a motor vehicle unattended on public property, including road rights-of-way, inside the city's incorporated area for more than 36 hours. The city doesn't need a court order to act: once it notifies the owner, the vehicle has to be moved within 36 hours or it becomes subject to towing. Vehicles left on posted 'No Trespassing' city property skip the notice step entirely and are subject to immediate removal. The rule doesn't reach vehicles the city, the state, or a contractor working a municipal job owns or leases.

Section 90.01(b) adds a second, independent trigger: a vehicle with no current license plate or no current state registration is treated as unused or abandoned regardless of how long it has sat there, and once the city gives notice, the owner has 72 hours, longer than the general 36-hour window, to move it before it's towed.

Section 90.02 gives police officers authority to have any abandoned vehicle hauled to the nearest garage or other safe location, and the removal cost attaches as a lien against the vehicle in two situations: when the vehicle is obstructing traffic, or when it's been parked or stored in violation of Section 90.01. Once towed, Section 90.04 requires the police department to run the vehicle's description through the state Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles within 24 hours to identify the registered owner and any lienholder, and the towing company then has to notify them by certified mail within seven days, excluding weekends, that the vehicle is unclaimed.