Columbia, SC Parking Rules: Overnight Parking (2026)

Rather than writing a single citywide overnight parking curfew into the code, Columbia's Chapter 12 gives the city authority to restrict on-street parking by posted signage on a block-by-block basis. Section 12-43 makes it unlawful to park a vehicle in violation of signage erected in a given block once that signage gives notice of the prohibited hours and days, which lets the city designate overnight no-parking windows, rush-hour clearways, street-sweeping closures, or any other schedule appropriate to that street. A companion rule, section 12-44, works the same way for maximum-stay limits: where signs are posted giving notice, a vehicle may not remain parked longer than the period and hours shown on the sign, except on Sundays and public holidays, when the time-limit signage does not apply.

Both rules depend entirely on the sign actually being posted in the block; without posted signage, a vehicle is not in violation of either section. The parking services division enforces both provisions with the same fine schedule used chapter-wide under section 12-79, which lists a $25 initial citation for a Parking Overtime or Time Restriction violation, rising by $25 if unpaid after 30 and 60 days. As with other street-parking rules, the registered owner of the vehicle bears responsibility for the citation under section 12-50, whether or not that owner was the one who parked it.