Tallahassee, FL Parking Rules: Curb Color Rules (2026)

Section 20-78, "Parking at yellow and red curbs," sits in Article III, Division 1 of the parking chapter alongside the city's other curb-marking authority. It does not define separate meanings for yellow versus red paint; instead it treats both colors as a blanket no-parking zone unless signage overrides the color and affirmatively permits parking. That structure differs from the neighboring Sec. 20-77, which lets the city manager or a designee designate hazardous or congested spots as off-limits by erecting signs or by placing a hood or bag over a parking meter, and from Sec.

20-79's loading zones, which use signed curb space rather than paint to control commercial and passenger stops. Because Sec. 20-78 gives immediate removal authority to the officer on scene, a driver cannot cure the violation by moving quickly once flagged; the vehicle can already be gone. The section derives from Code 1957, Sec. 32-20, carried forward unchanged in substance as Code 1984, Sec. 23-38, and it has not been amended since consolidation into the current Code of General Ordinances. Curb color in Tallahassee is therefore a straightforward stop sign for parking: absent a sign stating otherwise, painted yellow or red curb means no parking, full stop, and the risk is towing rather than a warning.