Tustin, CA Parking Rules: Curb Color Rules (2026)

Tustin's curb-color system depends entirely on the ban in Section 5320(h): unless a person is authorized, painting any street or curb surface is unlawful, full stop, with the single exception written into the same sentence for curb-number painting done under a City resolution or ordinance. That authorization runs through the City Traffic Engineer, who under Sections 5330 and 5331 is the only official empowered to designate and mark no-parking zones, red safety-hazard curbs, and timed zones such as the 24-minute green curb or the two, four, eight, and twelve-hour curbs described chapter-wide.

A resident who paints a curb red to stop neighbors from parking in front of the house, or a business that paints its own loading zone without City sign-off, falls squarely inside the Section 5320(h) ban; the numbers-only exception does not cover color-coding a curb for parking control. Tustin Police Department officers cite violations as infractions under the City's general penalty scheme in Section 1121: up to $100 for a first offense, up to $200 for a second within a year, and misdemeanor treatment, up to $1,000 and six months in the Orange County jail, for a third or later violation within that same year.

Because the curb-painting section sits inside Chapter 3's traffic-control provisions, unauthorized painting can also draw a City order to repaint or remove the marking at the violator's expense under the chapter's general enforcement authority.