Bethlehem, PA Parking Rules: Commercial & Oversized Vehicles (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- Codified Ordinances § 531.04
- Banned in
- residential, institutional, commercial zones
- Non-truck 20+ ft vehicles
- 72-hour limit, then 2-hour move
- Delivery exception window
- 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., 1 hour max
- Industrial zones
- parking specifically authorized
- First-tier fine
- $50.00 within 14 days
- Citation-stage fine
- $90.00 to $200.00
Summary
Bethlehem bans parking a truck tractor, truck tractor and trailer, or tri-axle dump truck on any street in a residential, institutional, or commercial zone. The rule covers streets that lie within or merely abut those zones, and violators face escalating fines starting at $50.
No person shall stand or park a truck tractor, truck tractor and trailer or tri-axle dump truck upon any street that lies within a residential, institutional or commercial zone of the City of Bethlehem, except as provided in Section (d) below. For the purposes of this Article, such area shall include all streets that either lie within or are abutting these zones, as defined by the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Bethlehem.
Full Breakdown
04(b) prohibits standing or parking a truck tractor, a truck tractor and trailer, or a tri-axle dump truck on any street lying within a residential, institutional, or commercial zone of the City of Bethlehem, and the restricted area extends to streets that merely abut those zones as mapped by the city's Zoning Ordinance. A separate cap applies to any other vehicle 20 feet or more in length that is not one of those truck types: it may stand no longer than 72 hours in those zones before it must be moved off the unit block for at least two hours.
04(c) flips the rule for industrially zoned streets lying wholly within an industrial district, where parking these trucks is specifically authorized. , but the stop must end the moment the delivery or pick-up is done and cannot run past one hour. 01. 04(f), police tag suspected 20-foot-plus vehicles with a windshield notice before citing them, but that notice step does not apply to truck tractors, truck tractor-trailers, or tri-axle dump trucks, which can be cited without warning. The section traces to Ordinance 3671 (1995) and Ordinance 3929 (1999), with the delivery and notice provisions added by Ordinance 3996 (2000) and Ordinance 2011-12 (2011).
Violations & Fines
Under § 531.99(b)(8), each violation of § 531.04 draws a fine of $50.00 if paid within 14 days of the violation, rising to $70.00 after 14 days but before a citation issues, and to between $90.00 and $200.00 once a citation is issued. An owner who fails to pay the applicable fine faces summary conviction and, in default of payment of fine and costs, imprisonment for not more than ten days.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a tri-axle dump truck park overnight on a residential street in Bethlehem?
Is there any exception for making a delivery?
What does a first violation cost?
Do industrially zoned streets have the same restriction?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Bethlehem
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