Santa Clarita, CA Parking Rules: Overnight Parking (2026)
Key Facts
- Removal trigger
- 72+ consecutive hours on a highway
- State authority
- Vehicle Code § 22651(k)
- Local ordinance
- Municipal Code § 12.64.200
- Still-parked threshold
- Not moved more than 150 feet
- Last amended
- Ordinance 23-2, April 2023
Summary
State law lets Santa Clarita remove a vehicle left on any highway for 72 or more consecutive hours under Vehicle Code Section 22651(k), which authorizes removal when a local ordinance permits it. The City's own local ordinance, Municipal Code Section 12.64.200, is that authorizing ordinance and defines when a vehicle counts as still parked.
A peace officer, as defined in Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2 of the Penal Code, or a regularly employed and salaried employee who is engaged in directing traffic or enforcing parking laws and regulations of a city, county, or jurisdiction of a state agency in which a vehicle is located may remove a vehicle located within the territorial limits in which the officer or employee may act, under the following circumstances: ... (k) If a vehicle is parked or left standing upon a highway for 72 or more consecutive hours in violation of a local ordinance authorizing removal.
Full Breakdown
Vehicle Code Section 22651 opens by giving a peace officer, or a regularly employed and salaried employee enforcing parking laws for a city, county or state agency, authority to remove a vehicle within their jurisdiction under listed circumstances. Subdivision (k) supplies one of those circumstances: a vehicle parked or left standing on a highway for 72 or more consecutive hours in violation of a local ordinance authorizing removal. 200, which makes it unlawful for an operator to leave, or a registered owner to allow, a vehicle parked or left standing on any City highway for longer than seventy-two consecutive hours, and lets an Enforcement Officer remove any such vehicle to a safe place.
That section defines when a vehicle is deemed still parked: it counts as parked or left standing unless it has been moved more than one hundred fifty feet from its original position, measured from the curb face, or from the lot line where there is no curb. It also defines a safe place as any City-owned, City-maintained or City-jurisdiction garage, parking lot or open space, or any privately owned garage whose owner will accept the vehicle. 200 was last amended by Ordinance 23-2 in April 2023; the underlying removal authority in Vehicle Code Section 22651(k) is a standing state grant that every California city ordinance like this one relies on rather than a locally invented penalty.
Violations & Fines
A vehicle left in the same spot on a City highway for more than 72 consecutive hours, without being moved more than 150 feet, is subject to removal by a City Enforcement Officer to a safe place under Section 12.64.200, exercising the state authority granted by Vehicle Code Section 22651(k). Moving the vehicle beyond that 150-foot threshold resets the 72-hour clock.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long can a vehicle sit on a Santa Clarita street before it can be towed?
Does moving my car a few feet reset the 72-hour clock in Santa Clarita?
What law lets Santa Clarita remove cars parked over 72 hours?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Santa Clarita
How Santa Clarita compares: Cities with the Strictest Overnight Parking Rules·California rules heatmap·Compare Santa Clarita to another location·View the California parking rules overview
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Overnight Parking in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Los Angeles County handle overnight parking.