Sonoma, CA Parking Rules: Overnight Parking (2026)
Key Facts
- Overnight ban
- Repealed 2013 (Ord. 01-2013)
- Current limit
- 72 consecutive hours max (SMC § 10.48.050)
- Enforcement
- Mandatory police removal, SMC § 10.16.090(A)
- Time-limited zones
- Set by council resolution, SMC § 10.48.190
- Current through
- Ordinance 13-2025 (Dec. 3, 2025)
Summary
The City of Sonoma does not ban overnight street parking outright; its old all-night parking prohibition was repealed in 2013. What remains in force is Sonoma Municipal Code § 10.48.050, which bars leaving any vehicle on a city street or alley for more than 72 consecutive hours, day or night, after which police must remove it.
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 72 hours.
Official source re-checked September 8, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: current through Ordinance 13-2025, passed December 3, 2025).
Full Breakdown
Sonoma once banned parking on the street all night under former § 10.48.240, but the city council repealed that section by Ordinance 01-2013, along with a separate two-hour parking rule in former § 10.48.195. The operative restriction today is § 10.48.050: "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 72 hours." Enforcement is mandatory rather than discretionary: § 10.16.090(A) directs that "any officer of the police department shall remove or cause to be removed... any vehicle that has been parked or left standing upon a street or highway for 72 or more consecutive hours." Beyond that flat 72-hour ceiling, the city council can impose shorter, street-specific time limits by resolution under § 10.48.190, provided the limits are posted, painted or marked before they take effect; parking in violation of a posted resolution limit is separately unlawful.
Residents and merchants holding a preferential parking permit under § 10.48.260 are exempt from the resolution-based limits of § 10.48.190 and from the now-repealed all-night ban of former § 10.48.240, but that carve-out does not reach the 72-hour storage limit in § 10.48.050. This scheme is current through Ordinance 13-2025, passed December 3, 2025.
Violations & Fines
A vehicle left on a street or alley for 72 or more consecutive hours must be removed by police under § 10.16.090(A), independent of any citation. Violating § 10.48.050 itself is enforced through the citywide general penalty in § 1.12.010: an infraction punishable by up to $100 for a first offense, $200 for a second, and $500 for a third within a year.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the City of Sonoma ban parking on the street overnight?
What happens if my car sits on a Sonoma street for more than three days?
Can the city post shorter time limits on specific streets?
Are residents with a preferential parking permit exempt from these time limits?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Sonoma
California rules heatmap·Compare Sonoma to another location·View the California parking rules overview
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Overnight Parking in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Sonoma County handle overnight parking.