Sonoma County, CA Parking Rules: Commercial & Oversized Vehicles (2026)

The rule sits in Article III of Chapter 18 (Motor Vehicles and Traffic) and was adopted as part of Ordinance No. 6535 on November 4, 2025. Subsection (a) sets a six-hour clock: no person may stop, park, or leave standing a covered vehicle on any county highway or county right-of-way for longer than six consecutive hours, and once that point is reached the vehicle must relocate for a period of at least 72 hours. The clock is a time limit on a spot, so moving a box truck a few feet does not restart it in the way the 72-hour relocation period is written.

Subsection (b) defines an oversized vehicle as any motor vehicle, boat or trailer that meets or exceeds at least one of three measurements, exclusive of fixtures and accessories: 24 feet in length, 90 inches in height, or 96 inches in width. A delivery truck, box truck, tractor or flatbed that reaches any one of those numbers is covered. Subsection (c) then adds categories that count as oversized whatever their dimensions: buses as defined in California Vehicle Code Section 233; trailers, hitched or not, including boat trailers and semi-trailers under Vehicle Code Section 630, and stand-alone boats not connected to trailers; trailer coaches under Vehicle Code Section 635; and recreational vehicles, meaning motor homes, slide-in campers, travel trailers, camping trailers and fifth-wheel travel trailers.

Subsection (c)(5) lists nine exemptions. They cover vehicles actively making pick-ups or deliveries adjacent to the property served; moving vans, recreational vehicles and other oversized vehicles being loaded or unloaded at an adjacent business or residence for no more than 48 consecutive hours; fully permitted and licensed food trucks that are open and operating, so long as they are not parked immediately adjacent to residentially zoned property; ambulance, paramedic, fire, police and other public safety vehicles; vehicles under emergency repair for less than 24 hours, where emergency repairs mean sudden and unexpected repairs; federal, state and local government vehicles on official business; vehicles registered with the California DMV as serving people with disabilities and parked next to the registered address or the place they provide transportation; agricultural vehicles, implements, equipment or trailers actively used in commercial farming or ranching; and vehicles parked temporarily while servicing or supporting agricultural operations, such as deliveries, crop transport, irrigation and maintenance.

The section reaches only county highways and county rights-of-way in the unincorporated area. City streets inside Santa Rosa, Petaluma, Sebastopol and the other incorporated cities follow those cities' own codes, and private lots are outside this section.