Rockdale County, GA Parking Rules: Overnight Parking (2026)

Section 42-76 targets overnight parking specifically in shopping center lots to prevent them from being used as unauthorized overnight parking or storage areas that could obstruct traffic. , with three exceptions: parking to frequent the shopping center's merchants, parking temporarily as part of a driving pool or park-and-ride arrangement with the shopping center owner's permission, or parking for any other reason with the owner's written permission. If a police officer asks, anyone relying on the driving-pool or other-permission exceptions must be able to produce the shopping center owner's written consent on the spot; without it, the vehicle is in violation.

The section's stated purpose, spelled out in subsection (c), is preventing the obstruction of traffic in shopping center parking lots rather than regulating parking on public streets generally. This sits within Chapter 42's nuisances article, so enforcement follows the same general penalty track at Code § 1-11 that governs the rest of the nuisance chapter, and citations can be issued by code enforcement officers or Rockdale County Sheriff's deputies. A related but separate rule, § 94-5, lets a sheriff's deputy order any vehicle blocking an alley, road or right-of-way moved or towed at any hour if it creates an immediate public safety hazard, regardless of the time of day.