Richmond, VA Parking Rules: Commercial & Oversized Vehicles (2026)

Richmond City Code § 27-203(a) makes it unlawful for the owner, operator or driver of any motor vehicle with an empty weight exceeding 6,500 pounds, or any trailer, semitrailer or motor home regardless of weight, to park on a street or in an alley along a primarily residential or mixed residential-commercial block. Three carve-outs apply: vehicles actively being loaded or unloaded, vehicles used by persons holding a permit from the Chief of Police, and vehicles used by persons holding a Department of Public Works permit for street work.

A separate carve-out covers vehicles parked while the owner, operator or driver is actually performing contractual work at a nearby property, and passenger cars or pickup trucks used exclusively for noncommercial purposes are exempt outright. Section 27-203 flips the burden on that last exemption: proof that a passenger car or pickup exceeds 6,500 pounds empty weight creates a prima facie presumption in court that it is not being used exclusively for noncommercial purposes, so the owner has to rebut it. Subsection (b) adds a citywide rule independent of block type: no motor home, motor vehicle, semitrailer or trailer over 6,500 pounds empty weight may park within 75 feet of any intersection anywhere in the City, residential or not. The section traces back to Ordinance No. 2004-297-289, adopted November 8, 2004, and was renumbered from former Code 2004 § 102-227.