Kirkland, WA Parking Rules: Commercial & Oversized Vehicles (2026)

KMC 12.45.210 splits large-vehicle parking into two prohibitions. Subsection (a) bans parking or storing a trailer anywhere on a street, highway, off-street public parking facility, or public way in Kirkland, defining trailer broadly to include boat trailers, camping trailers, house trailers, and utility trailers, or any other conveyance built to be towed by a motor vehicle or draft animal. The only carve-out is that the city traffic engineer can post signs designating off-street parking near public parks, recreational areas, and boat launches where recreational trailers may park.

Subsection (b) separately bans parking or storing a truck tractor, or any vehicle weighing 25,000 pounds gross vehicle weight or more, on the same range of public streets and facilities. Truck tractor is defined as a vehicle designed and used primarily for drawing other vehicles that isn't built to carry a load of its own beyond a portion of the towed vehicle's weight. The planning director, not the traffic engineer, has authority to designate exempt areas, but only areas that do not include or abut residential uses; the city keeps a map of any designated areas on file with the police department, open to public inspection.

Both bans carry an enhanced impoundment trigger. Under KMC 12.45.210(c), a vehicle, trailer, or truck tractor violating this section can be impounded via the standard KMC 12.40.020 procedure, but only after it has been tagged with a notice of intent to impound and left in place for at least 24 hours following the tag, giving the owner a full day to move it before towing.