Costa Mesa, CA Parking Rules: Commercial & Oversized Vehicles (2026)

Section 10-185 defines a 'commercial vehicle' as any vehicle with more than two axles, or a single commercial vehicle or combination exceeding 20 feet in length, 84 inches in width, or a manufacturer's gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or more, not counting mirrors or similar attachments in the measurement. Subsection (f) keeps any commercial vehicle over 10,000 pounds off streets designated under Section 10-248 as closed to commercial traffic, meaning trucks must stay on the city's established truck routes rather than cutting through residential blocks.

m. Subsection (h) layers a three-hour parking cap on public streets, highways, roadways, alleys and thoroughfares citywide for commercial vehicles over 10,000 pounds, with three narrow exceptions: reasonable extra time to make pickups or deliveries of goods, reasonable extra time while performing a service to a property on that block, and reasonable extra time for emergency repairs. The same section separately caps ordinary parking of any motor vehicle at 72 consecutive hours under subsection (c), and treats large motor vehicles (house cars, campers, RVs and similar vehicles over 22 feet long or over 84 inches in both width and height) differently, permitting them adjacent to the owner's residence in residential districts for up to 48 hours, extendable to 72 hours with a chief of police extension.

Vehicles that violate any part of Section 10-185 may be cited, towed, or both under Section 10-69, and subsection (j) lets the city council set a minimum fine by separate resolution rather than relying only on the general Code fine schedule.