Fountain Valley, CA Parking Rules: Preferential Parking Districts (2026)

Fountain Valley Municipal Code § 10.44.079 lets the City Council create permit parking districts in the City of Fountain Valley under the Permit Parking System City Council Policy. That policy sets the procedures for forming a district, and the code states the purpose: to mitigate parking intrusion from outside sources into residential neighborhoods. The code itself does not list the districts, permit prices, hours or eligibility rules, and the policy text is not part of the municipal code. Each district is adopted by its own resolution, so the boundaries and the exemptions for a given street live in that resolution rather than in the code.

Once a district is established for an area, the rule is direct: no person shall park in the area, unless exempted in the system, without a duly authorized permit. A violation is an infraction punished in accordance with Government Code Section 36900. Separately, the code's general penalty section, § 1.16.010(b), sets infraction ceilings for the code as a whole: a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars for a first violation, two hundred dollars for a second violation of the same ordinance within one year, and five hundred dollars for each additional violation within one year. Street parking offenses are also handled through the civil citation system in Chapter 10.56, which adopts Vehicle Code Section 40200 et seq. and leaves the fine amounts to a City Council resolution (§ 10.56.020).

A permit district sits alongside the code's other street rules. The city traffic engineer maintains parking signs and curb markings (§ 10.44.060), § 10.44.080 caps parking on any street or alley at seventy-two consecutive hours, and § 10.44.075 bans parking from two a.m. to six a.m. on six named through highways. Anyone denied a permit or aggrieved by a decision of the traffic committee or city traffic engineer can appeal in writing to the City Council, filed with the city clerk, under § 10.68.010, and the Council hears the appeal at its next regular meeting or as soon after as possible.