La Plata County, CO Parking Rules: Snow Removal Parking Rules (2026)

Snow emergency parking in unincorporated La Plata County, Colorado runs through a declaration, not a standing schedule. Section 54-171 of the La Plata County Code lets the Board of County Commissioners, the county director of emergency preparedness or the county manager declare a snow emergency in all or any part of the county, during extreme snow conditions and on the recommendation of road and bridge staff. County administrative staff notify the public through local media, and inform the public the same way when the emergency is over.

The stated purpose is to expedite the removal of vehicles from the county right-of-way that obstruct snow plows. The road and bridge director of maintenance recommends the declaration, then advises the sheriff's office watch commander, and the sheriff gives permission to use the emergency towing protocol. Once permission is given and the public has been notified, county snowplow operators identify vehicles obstructing the right-of-way and interfering with snow removal. They report the make and model, license plate and location to the road and bridge shop, which calls a towing company, rotating towing assignments among local towing operators. The shop records which operator was assigned, where the vehicle will be towed, and the date and time of the request, and passes that information to central dispatch and the sheriff's department watch commander. Either the county manager or the county director of emergency preparedness lifts the emergency when the director of maintenance reports it is over, and the Board can also lift it.

Subsection (III) keeps a second path open. The sheriff or a designee can act under C.R.S. § 42-4-1803 at any time to have a vehicle in the county right of way that obstructs traffic or maintenance towed, and can authorize road and bridge employees to tow it, whether or not a snow emergency has been declared.

Other sections support this. Section 54-81 lists snow route as a parking control zone type, Section 54-60(III) makes it a violation to park on a designated snow route so as to impede snow removal operations that are imminent or in progress, and Section 54-57 lets a deputy sheriff or county employee impound a vehicle that must be removed for snow removal. Section 54-172 separately makes it unlawful within the Durango Hills Road Improvement District to park or abandon a vehicle in a road right-of-way so as to impede traffic or snow removal.