Issaquah, WA Parking Rules: Curb Color Rules (2026)

Section 10.28.010 of the Issaquah Municipal Code treats a painted curb as a legal no-parking designation. The section covers stopping and standing as well as parking, so briefly halting in a marked zone is covered, not only leaving a vehicle there. It names yellow and red painted curbs together and also reaches other signage or marking, and it does not assign a different meaning to each color. The exceptions are compliance with the law, the directions of a police officer, or an official traffic control device.

Section 10.28.030 says who decides. The City Engineer is authorized to determine and designate, by appropriate signage or yellow or red markings supplemented with the appropriate words, places in which stopping, standing or parking is prohibited on public property. That authority includes private property only for the purpose of designating fire lanes. Section 10.28.020(A) then makes it a separate infraction to stop, stand or park in a red or yellow painted curb area or a red or yellow painted striped fire lane in a way that obstructs fire control equipment access, with a fine not to exceed $250.00.

Towing is a separate track. Under 10.34.040(A)(2), a vehicle illegally parked in a conspicuously posted restricted zone, where parking is limited to designated classes of vehicles or is prohibited during certain hours, on designated days or at all times, and where it is interfering with the proper and intended use of the zone, can be impounded with or without a citation and without prior notice to the owner. Section 10.34.010 calls an officer's decision to tow discretionary and not punitive, and says an officer who tows shall not also issue an infraction relating solely to how the vehicle was parked. The online code flags 10.28.010 as amended by Ordinance 3149 with a pending effective date of 11/18/2026.