Wilmington, NC Parking Rules: Overnight Parking (2026)

Section 5-54 does not set a blanket overnight parking ban but instead lists five purposes for which no vehicle may occupy a Wilmington street. Item (2) is the operative long-term-storage rule: no person may park a vehicle on a street while 'storing such vehicle for more than forty-eight (48) hours.' The other four purposes barred by the same section are washing, servicing or repairing a vehicle on the street (except emergency repairs), using a parked vehicle for advertising, transferring merchandise between vehicles outside a loading zone, and using a parked vehicle to present a show, exhibition or entertainment.

The 48-hour rule connects directly to the city's towing authority. Section 5-91(4) authorizes police to direct the towing of 'a vehicle left unattended upon a street continuously for more than forty-eight (48) hours,' meaning a vehicle stored past the limit can be removed, not just cited. Separately, Chapter 5's abandoned-vehicle article defines an 'abandoned motor vehicle' under § 5-110 to include one 'left for longer than seven (7) days on any public street or highway,' which triggers the notice-and-removal process in §§ 5-111 and 5-114 if the 48-hour storing violation is not addressed first.

Article IV's holiday exemption in § 5-61 suspends time-and-duration parking rules adopted under § 5-53 on listed city holidays, but § 5-54's storage prohibition is a separate provision not listed among those suspended, so the 48-hour storage rule applies year-round including holidays.