Palm Desert, CA Parking Rules: Overnight Parking (2026)
Key Facts
- Street parking limit
- Seventy-two consecutive hours on any street or alley
- Code section
- Palm Desert Municipal Code § 10.48.050
- Removal authority
- Police officer, city manager or designees at seventy-two or more hours
- RV street permit
- Up to seventy-two hours, no fee, one extension
- Repair businesses
- City-approved off-street parking only
- Default penalty
- Fine up to one thousand dollars, prosecuted as an infraction
Summary
In the City of Palm Desert, California, no person who owns or controls a vehicle can park it on any street or alley for more than a consecutive period of seventy-two hours under Municipal Code § 10.48.050. Businesses that repair or dismantle vehicles must use city-approved off-street parking, and a vehicle left past the limit can be removed.
A. No person who owns or has possession, custody or control of any vehicle shall park such vehicle upon any street or alley for more than a consecutive period of seventy-two hours. B. Businesses located within the city that repair or cause to be repaired, grease or cause to be greased, dismantle or cause to be dismantled, any vehicle or any part thereof must use only city-approved off-street parking for such repair, greasing or dismantling. Otherwise, the storing of vehicles is prohibited on public streets.
Full Breakdown
Palm Desert does not set a separate overnight curfew for street parking. The operative limit is the seventy-two hour rule in § 10.48.050(A): a person who owns or has possession, custody or control of a vehicle cannot park it upon any street or alley for more than a consecutive period of seventy-two hours. The rule covers every street and alley in the City of Palm Desert, and it reaches the person in control of the vehicle, not only the registered owner.
Subsection B targets the repair trade. Businesses located within the city that repair, grease or dismantle vehicles must use only city-approved off-street parking for that work, and otherwise the storing of vehicles is prohibited on public streets. A related section, § 10.48.070, bars anyone from constructing, repairing, greasing or dismantling a vehicle or any part of it upon a public street, with one exception: temporary emergency repairs can be made.
Removal is handled in § 10.16.090. A regularly employed and salaried officer of the police department, the city manager or the city manager's designees can remove or relocate any vehicle that has been parked or left standing upon a street or highway for seventy-two or more consecutive hours. The same section reaches vehicles parked between seven a.m. and seven p.m. where parking is prohibited by ordinance or resolution and signs are posted giving notice of removal, and vehicles blocking street cleaning, repair, construction, underground utility work or an authorized special event, provided notice signs went up at least twenty-four hours before removal.
Recreational vehicles follow a stricter track under § 10.96.020. Parking or storing a recreational vehicle on a public street is prohibited unless a permit is obtained. The code enforcement officer issues the permit for a period not to exceed seventy-two consecutive hours, with no permit fee, one extension of up to seventy-two hours, and no more than six permits in a calendar year for any applicant. The application is due on the next day city offices are open after the vehicle arrives in the city.
Violations & Fines
Section 10.48.050 prints no fine of its own, so the general penalty in § 1.12.010 applies: a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, or imprisonment not exceeding six months, or both. Violations are prosecuted as infractions unless the city attorney moves otherwise, and the jail term then does not apply. Section 1.12.040 makes each day a separate offense. A vehicle left seventy-two or more consecutive hours can also be removed or relocated under § 10.16.090.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long can a car stay parked on a street in the City of Palm Desert?
Can a visiting RV park on a Palm Desert street?
Who can have a vehicle removed after seventy-two hours?
Can a repair shop work on customer cars at the curb?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Palm Desert
How Palm Desert compares: Cities with the Strictest Overnight Parking Rules·California rules heatmap·Compare Palm Desert to another location·View the California parking rules overview
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How other cities in Riverside County handle overnight parking.