Bensalem, PA Parking Rules: Dibs & Space Saving (2026)

Sec. 225-5 of the Bensalem Township Code, added by Ord. No. 2022-01, flatly prohibits blocking or reserving a parking space or roadside parking area with any item, naming cones, trashcans, chairs, plant pots and caution tape as examples and sweeping in anything not normally found in a parking space, which covers the chair-and-trashcan 'dibs' practice after a snow shoveling. The Code carves out seven specific exceptions: emergency purposes including police or fire investigation, public works access, roadway or parking area damage such as sinkholes, potholes or spills, construction cones approved through a building permit, caution or police tape placed or authorized by the Township Police Department, traffic barricades placed by the Police Department, and temporary No Parking signs authorized or placed by the Police Department.

Outside those seven categories, an object left in a public parking space or roadside area to hold it for later use is not allowed regardless of intent. The section expressly does not reach obstructions placed on private property, so a homeowner blocking their own driveway or private lot with an item is outside this provision's scope; the rule targets public streets and roadside parking areas within the Township.