Santa Ana, CA Parking Rules: Curb Color Rules (2026)

" The section traces to the 1952 Code (§ 3269) and was last amended by Ordinance No. NS-2440 in 2000, and it applies to anyone, a resident touching up a chipped red zone, a business owner painting a loading stripe, or a contractor working without a city agreement. Authorization has to come through an actual contract with the city; there's no self-service permit letting a property owner repaint a curb on their own initiative. The reason the city keeps that authority close is spelled out one article earlier, in § 36-131, "Parking signs and curb markings, color legend," which assigns specific legal meanings to red, yellow, white, green and blue curb paint, red bars stopping or standing at any time, yellow limits loading to set windows, and so on.

If private painting were allowed, those meanings would stop being reliable, so the Public Works Agency retains sole control over which curbs get marked and in what color. Because § 36-148 doesn't state its own fine, a violation defaults to the Code's general penalty in § 1-8: a misdemeanor punishable by up to a $1,000 fine, up to six months in jail, or both, with the city attorney free to charge it instead as an infraction, and each day the unauthorized paint remains is treated as a continuing, separate offense under § 1-12.