Contra Costa County, CA Parking Rules: Overnight Parking (2026)

Contra Costa County's vehicle rules address long-term street parking in Chapter 46-4 of the Ordinance Code, part of Division 46 (Traffic Regulations), which governs unincorporated county roads only, not the 19 incorporated cities inside county lines. Section 46-4.004 sets the core rule: any vehicle "parked or left standing on a county road for seventy-two or more consecutive hours may be removed as provided in the Vehicle Code." The rule traces to Ordinance 71-7, adopted in 1971, building on earlier Ordinances 1800 and 1498 and prior code section 3411, and it applies to cars, trucks, RVs, trailers, and boats alike, with no separate carve-out for recreational vehicles.

Removal runs through the companion procedure in Section 46-4.008. The road commissioner (now the public works director) may post signs giving notice that vehicles are subject to removal, and twenty-four hours after posting may have a vehicle towed "in accordance with the provisions of this code and the Vehicle Code." That removal authority reaches three situations: road cleaning, repair, or construction; a permitted road use that parking would interfere with, such as utility work or moving oversized equipment; or a vehicle illegally parked in violation of a county traffic ordinance or resolution, which covers the 72-hour rule itself. Unlike the hillside brake-and-wheel rule in Section 46-4.002 or the marked-space rule in Section 46-4.006, the 72-hour rule targets duration rather than location, making it the county's primary tool against using county roads for indefinite vehicle storage.