Bowie, MD Parking Rules: Snow Removal Parking Rules (2026)

Bowie City Code § 14-18 defines a snow emergency as any accumulation of snow and ice on City streets reaching a depth of two inches or more, and the emergency, and its citywide parking ban, stays in force until the accumulation has actually been cleared, not on a fixed clock. There is no separate declaration step; the threshold itself triggers the ban. § 14-19 lets the City Manager or a designee take possession of and remove any parked or abandoned vehicle that obstructs traffic or interferes with plowing on any City street, and § 14-20 lets the City recover its full towing, removal and storage cost from the vehicle's owner, a dollar-for-dollar pass-through rather than a set fine. § 14-21 builds in an overnight grace period: if snow or ice starts accumulating after 10:00 p.m., the City will not tow a vehicle away until after 8:00 a.m. the following day, giving residents a window to move their cars once plowing resumes.

A related but separate rule, § 14-23, lets the City remove vehicles that block scheduled street construction, reconstruction, maintenance or repair once notice of the work has been posted or given in advance, using the same removal authority as the snow-emergency sections. Reclaiming a towed vehicle under any of these sections follows the general impoundment procedure in § 14-14, including a $50 processing fee under § 14-17 and payment of any outstanding parking fines already adjudicated by a court.