Yuba City, CA Parking Rules: Abandoned Vehicles (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing chapter
- Municipal Code Title 4, Ch. 15
- Enforcing officer
- Yuba City Police Chief
- Notice period
- 10 calendar days before removal
- Hearing request window
- 10 days from notice
- Unpaid cost consequence
- Special assessment on property, Sec. 4-15.13
- Exempt vehicles
- Enclosed in building or licensed dismantler lot
Summary
Yuba City treats an abandoned, wrecked, dismantled, or inoperative vehicle on public or private property, outside highways, as a public nuisance under Municipal Code Chapter 15 of Title 4. The Police Chief can order it removed after a ten-day notice, following the process authorized by Vehicle Code Sec. 22660.
The accumulation and storage of abandoned, wrecked, dismantled, or inoperative vehicles, or parts thereof, on private or public property, not including highways, is hereby found to create a condition tending to reduce the value of private property, to promote blight and deterioration, to invite plundering, to create fire hazards, to constitute an attractive nuisance creating a hazard to the health and safety of minors, to create a harborage for rodents and insects, and to be injurious to the health, safety, and general welfare. Therefore, the presence of an abandoned, wrecked, dismantled, or inoperative vehicle, or part thereof, on private or public property, not including highways, except as expressly permitted by the provisions of this chapter, is hereby declared to constitute a public nuisance which may be abated as such in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
Full Breakdown
Sec. 01 finds that accumulated abandoned, wrecked, dismantled, or inoperative vehicles reduce property values, invite plundering, create fire hazards, attract children into danger, and harbor rodents and insects, and it declares such a vehicle a public nuisance under both Vehicle Code Sec. 22660 and this chapter. The chapter reaches private and public property but not highways (Sec. 02). Two narrow exceptions apply under Sec. 03: a vehicle fully enclosed in a building and out of public view, and a vehicle lawfully stored on the premises of a licensed dismantler, dealer, or junk dealer as part of that business.
Enforcement runs through the Police Chief (Sec. 05), who can enter property to inspect or remove a vehicle. Before removal, Sec. 08 requires a ten-calendar-day notice by registered mail to both the landowner and the registered vehicle owner; either can request a public hearing before the City Council within that window (Sec. 09), and the landowner can submit a sworn statement denying responsibility instead of appearing. If no hearing is requested, the Police Chief can proceed to abate and remove the vehicle without one. After a Council hearing, Sec.
10 lets the Council order removal and assess administrative and removal costs against the landowner, unless it finds the vehicle was dumped without the landowner's consent and the landowner never acquiesced to its presence. Removal to a scrapyard or dismantler can occur five days after the nuisance order (Sec. 11), and unpaid administrative and removal costs become a lien collected with the property taxes if not paid within 30 days (Sec. 13, citing Government Code Sec. 5).
Violations & Fines
Costs of administrative processing and removal are billed to the vehicle's owner and, absent the innocent-landowner finding, the property owner; unpaid amounts after 30 days convert to a special assessment on the parcel collected by the County Tax Collector with the same priority as City taxes, under Sec. 4-15.13 and Government Code Sec. 38773.5. Maintaining the vehicle as a nuisance can separately draw the general infraction penalties of Sec. 1-2.02.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much notice does Yuba City give before removing an abandoned vehicle?
Can I get a hearing before my abandoned vehicle is towed?
Who pays if my abandoned vehicle is removed from my property?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Yuba City
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