San Mateo, CA Parking Rules: Oversized Vehicle Parking (2026)

San Mateo County adopted and amended Section 7.28.070 of its Ordinance Code in 2020 to strengthen control of oversized vehicles in the unincorporated area, an authority that flows from California Vehicle Code provisions allowing local agencies to restrict heavy or oversized vehicles on designated streets. The amendment added trailers to the prohibited categories and provides that oversized vehicles over six feet high may be restricted from parking on a residential street and trailers of any size may be restricted from parking on a public street. The restriction is not automatic everywhere; specific street locations where it is enforced are brought before the Board of Supervisors for approval and then posted. The ordinance lists exceptions where parking remains allowed: while actively loading or unloading persons or property; while a public utility is providing service to nearby property; during emergency repairs or while waiting for a tow operator, not to exceed eight hours; while an emergency vehicle of a California political subdivision is responding; and for wheelchair-accessible vans. This ordinance, together with the abandoned-vehicle rules (Chapter 7.60) and the one-hour commercial-vehicle limit (Section 7.28.030), forms the County's framework for large RVs, trucks, buses, and trailers on public streets. Because enforcement depends on Board-posted locations, residents should look for signage on their specific street.