Kern County, CA Parking Rules: Curb Color Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- Kern County Code § 10.16.030 (Markings)
- State standard adopted
- Cal. Vehicle Code § 21458 curb colors
- County lot curbs
- § 10.16.290: signs and/or painted curbs
- Loading zone curbs
- § 10.16.155: road commissioner paints curbs
- Street parking penalty
- Infraction under § 10.16.300
- County lot fine
- $40 per violation since July 1, 2016
Summary
Kern County's director of roads, not a separate curb-paint code, decides where street curbs get painted or signed for no-parking, loading, bus, taxi and angle-parking zones under Chapter 10.16 of the county code, following the color and marking standard set by California Vehicle Code Section 21458.
The director of roads of the county is empowered and it shall be his duty and responsibility to place, or cause to be placed, proper and appropriate markings as prescribed by Section 21458 of the Vehicle Code and other applicable provisions of said Vehicle Code for all of the no-parking, limited parking, bus, freight, passenger, taxi and angle parking zones created and established under this chapter.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 59 Update 1).
Full Breakdown
030 of the Kern County Code, titled "Markings," puts the county's director of roads in charge of placing "proper and appropriate markings as prescribed by Section 21458 of the Vehicle Code" for every no-parking, limited-parking, bus, freight, passenger, taxi and angle parking zone the county creates on roads in the unincorporated area. 16. The county draws a distinction between ordinary street curbs and county-owned parking lots. 16. A driver who sees a painted curb anywhere in unincorporated Kern County is looking at a marking placed under one of these three sections, backed by the state's Vehicle Code color code rather than a locally invented system.
Violations & Fines
Parking in a zone marked off by one of these painted curbs is enforced as a parking violation under Section 10.16.300, which makes it an infraction to park "in violation of this chapter, or... otherwise violate the provisions of this chapter." Inside county-owned lots, Section 10.16.290 lets the department of general services or its designated agents issue citations and order a vehicle towed at the owner's expense if it blocks the lot or creates a hazard, with fines processed under Vehicle Code Section 40200 et seq. and capped at forty dollars per violation since July 1, 2016.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Kern County have its own curb color code?
Who paints curbs in a county-owned parking lot?
What's the penalty for parking against a painted curb restriction?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Kern County
California rules heatmap·Compare Kern County to another location·View the California parking rules overview
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