San Clemente, CA Parking Rules: Preferential Parking Districts (2026)

260, creates two permit types. A residential parking permit is available to any resident of a designated preferential parking zone who files the prescribed fee and a completed application with the City Finance Department; once issued, the permit is affixed to the lower left rear bumper and lets the holder park on any street inside that zone regardless of posted time restrictions. Permits are capped at one per vehicle registered to a resident of the zone, and no permit may be issued for a vehicle that could not legally be parked on City streets or that is not registered to an address inside the zone.

Residents also receive one guest parking permit per household unless the City Council increases that number by resolution; guest permits run through the end of the calendar year issued and must be renewed annually. A second, separate metered parking permit is open to any California driver's license holder who files a fee and application with the Finance Department; it is affixed to the lower right windshield and allows free parking in any City-owned parking facility or metered on-street space, except it does not cover short-term stalls, defined as meter spaces limited to one hour or less.

Both permit types run on fixed terms, residential permits from January 1 through December 31 with no fee proration, and metered permits for twelve consecutive months from the date of purchase, renewed on or before the twelve-month anniversary through the City Accounting Division. When a permitted vehicle is sold, the permittee must remove the permit and turn it in to the City, which reissues a new permit to that permittee for a replacement vehicle rather than transferring the old one.