Lakewood, WA Parking Rules: Street Parking Limits (2026)

010 covers the full travel portion of any Pierce County, Washington street within Lakewood city limits, defined to include roadway medians, center lanes, merge lanes, and turn lanes, not just the outer travel lanes. The rule bars stopping, parking, or leaving a vehicle standing anywhere that impedes, restricts, or prevents travel over or across a public roadway, whether the vehicle is attended or unattended. Because a law enforcement officer may immediately remove any vehicle that is unsafely parked, stopped, or blocking traffic, without prior notice to the driver or registered owner, an offending vehicle can be towed on the spot rather than warned first.

The ordinance defines a vehicle broadly, covering anything designed to move on a public highway whether motorized or not, which includes trailers being towed by another vehicle. 21 RCW, or under a city contract, may stop as close as practical to the road edge while actively collecting. Neither exception covers ordinary drivers who double-park or block a lane for a delivery or a personal errand. 00 maximum penalty applies on top of any state-mandated court costs and assessments. Lakewood adopted this current version, including the towing authority in subsection C, by Ordinance 809 in 2024, replacing an earlier 1996 version that did not spell out the officer's immediate-removal power.