Santa Barbara's Municipal Code tightly limits commercial-vehicle street parking. Trucks over 3/4-ton capacity, trailers, semi-trailers, and buses may not stay on a street longer than two hours (SBMC 10.44.200), and oversized commercial vehicles must leave the public right-of-way unless actively loading or permitted (SBMC 10.44.220).
The City of Santa Barbara, not the County, regulates commercial-vehicle parking on its streets through Title 10. Under SBMC 10.44.200, no person may park a trailer, semi-trailer, bus, or any truck used primarily for business or commercial hauling exceeding three-quarters (3/4) ton capacity on any street, alley, or parkway for longer than two hours, except that a commercial truck actively being loaded or unloaded may stay the additional time reasonably required for that operation. SBMC 10.44.210 separately governs vehicles used to transport property for hire. Most commercial trucks also fall under the oversized-vehicle ordinance, SBMC 10.44.220(B), which prohibits any vehicle exceeding 25 feet long, 80 inches wide, or 82 inches high from the public right-of-way. The Police training bulletin lists narrow exemptions: a commercial vehicle actively engaged in loading, unloading, or delivery to an adjacent business or residence is allowed up to 30 minutes (after which a permit is required); commercial vehicles on emergency response/repair outside City business hours; government-agency or public-utility vehicles (including cable and telecom) between 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. or after hours during emergency work; and buses for up to two hours when not in a bus zone. Contractor oversized-vehicle permits issued by Downtown Parking allow parking only from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. at work locations, with overnight parking permitted in emergency situations only. Yellow loading zones (SBMC 10.48.060) cap commercial freight loading at 30 minutes between 7:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. except Sunday.
Oversized commercial-vehicle violations are cited under SBMC 10.44.220(B) at $48.00, with a $0.00 warning citation for first-time violators per the SBPD bulletin; citations must document the measurement of each violated dimension. A 10.44.200 commercial-truck overtime violation is a parking citation, and yellow-zone overstays beyond 30 minutes are cited under SBMC 10.48.060.
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