Alexandria, VA Parking Rules: Preferential Parking Districts (2026)
Key Facts
- Non-permit dwell limit
- 2-3 consecutive hours
- Petition threshold
- >50% of block's occupants
- Qualifying occupancy survey
- 75%+ spaces filled
- Nonresident vehicle threshold
- >25% of parked vehicles
- Permit misuse fine
- $250
- New districts via ballot
- up to 2 per year
Summary
Alexandria posts residential permit parking (RPP) district signs once a block qualifies under City Code § 5-8-72. Inside a posted district, a vehicle without a valid permit can stay no more than two or three consecutive hours during the signed weekday or Sunday hours before it must move.
(a) Prohibited parking. It shall be unlawful for any person to park a motor vehicle within any block which is posted with one or more residential permit parking district signs contrary to any of the conditions set forth on the sign, unless the vehicle displays a permit. (b) Parking restrictions in districts. (1) Permit parking district signs shall restrict parking by motor vehicles lacking a permit to no more than two or three consecutive hours on a block during specific periods: (i) 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. or 11:00 p.m. ... on either Monday through Friday or Saturday, excluding legal holidays; and/or (ii) 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. ... on Sunday. (2) Motor vehicles lacking a permit cannot park on the same block after two consecutive hours during the specified periods.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 156 | Zoning: Supplement 103).
Full Breakdown
on Sunday. Parking enforcement officers chalk-mark tires to track dwell time, and erasing or covering that chalk before the vehicle leaves the block is itself unlawful. Section 5-8-73 sets the formation process: residents petition with signatures from occupants of more than 50 percent of the block's residential properties, triggering a city manager occupancy survey on a weekday; if 75 percent or more of spaces are occupied, a follow-up study checks whether more than 25 percent of parked vehicles belong to nonresidents. If both thresholds are met, the traffic and parking board holds a public hearing and recommends designation to city council, which makes the final call and decides whether signs post immediately or only after individual block petitions under § 5-8-76.
Separately, § 5-8-73(b) lets the city manager add up to two new districts a year near a transit station or based on a parking study, using a mail ballot that needs more than 50 percent returned and more than 60 percent in favor.
Violations & Fines
Parking past the posted hour limit without a permit is a parking citation. Falsifying a permit application, or displaying a permit on a vehicle it wasn't issued for or after its conditions lapse, carries a separate $250 fine under § 5-8-80, and the permit becomes invalid immediately upon the violation.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does a block in Alexandria become a residential permit parking district?
How long can a visitor without a permit park on a residential permit block?
What happens if I display someone else's residential parking permit?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Alexandria
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