Westminster, CA Parking Rules: Driveway Rules (2026)

Under the city's public-nuisance code, Westminster Municipal Code Chapter 8.20, storing or parking a vehicle on the unpaved open portion of a front yard in a residential zone is listed as an unlawful property nuisance at Section 8.20.030(P). The rule carves out two exceptions: a licensed, operable vehicle parked on a paved drive approach leading to a required garage or other permitted parking facility, or on a fully paved side-yard strip next to it, is allowed, and a recreational vehicle may sit in the front yard if it holds a valid RV parking permit and is parked on a paved surface.

Section 8.20.040 makes it unlawful for any owner, lessee, occupant or person in charge of the property to maintain a condition listed in Section 8.20.030, which is how the front-yard parking violation is charged. Enforcement runs through the abatement procedure in the same chapter: the chief, director, health officer or manager investigates and issues a written report under Section 8.20.060, the property owner gets up to thirty days to correct the violation with as many as two additional thirty-day extensions for extenuating circumstances, and an uncorrected violation proceeds to a public hearing before the Planning Commission, sitting as the nuisance hearing board, under Sections 8.20.070 through 8.20.090.

If the nuisance is not abated, the city can perform the work itself and record a special assessment lien against the property under Sections 8.20.210 through 8.20.230, and a second nuisance judgment against the same owner within two years can result in a court order for treble abatement costs under Section 8.20.260.