Kingsport, TN Parking Rules: Curb Color Rules (2026)

Kingsport, Tennessee, handles curb paint through two sections of Chapter 98, Article IV of the Code of Ordinances. Section 98-230 lets the city manager or designee have lines or markings painted or placed upon the curb or the street to designate the parking spaces to be used. Every vehicle parking next to a marked space must park within the lines, and it is unlawful to park across a line or to sit in a position that is not entirely within the marked area.

Section 98-229 ties yellow paint to enforcement. When a parking time limit is established, parking is prohibited, or a special purpose space is designated, the department of public works has the duty to erect signs or use yellow curb markings. The section then states that no such regulation is effective unless the signs were erected in each block, or yellow curb markings were used, and in place at the time of any alleged offense. The marking has to be on the ground on the day of the citation.

Yellow curb markings are named in specific no-parking authorities. Adjacent to school property, public works can post no parking signs or use yellow curb markings in lieu of signs (Sec. 98-222). On narrow streets, signs or yellow curb markings carry the ban where the roadway width does not exceed 20 feet, or on one side of a street where the width does not exceed 30 feet (Sec. 98-223). Public works also designates hazardous or congested places not exceeding 150 feet in length by proper signs (Sec. 98-225).

Private painting is a different matter. Section 98-476 forbids displaying any unauthorized marking that resembles an official traffic control device or attempts to direct the movement of traffic, declares every such marking a public nuisance, and empowers the authority having jurisdiction over the highway to remove it without notice. Parking penalties are set by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen under Sec. 98-38(a).