Anyone know how to interpret this 72 hour parking law in San Diego County.

[OHRoadwarrior]

I suggest you run for county commissioner and change any policies you disagree with.

 

[asiny]

Well, the tag was from the CHP and was check marked "Section 22651(k) VC provides for removal from a highway after 72 hours of continuous parking in violation of county ordinance number 72.122 CC

Very nice again. As clearly pointed out Section 22651 falls under the following ordinance.

ORDINANCE NO. 9770 (NEW SERIES)

AN ORDINANCE AMENDING SECTION 72.122. OF THE
SAN DIEGO COUNTY CODE RELATING TO TRAFFIC
REGULATIONS IN THE COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO

The Board of Supervisors of the County of San Diego ordains as follows:
Section 72.122. of the San Diego County Code is amended to read as follows:

SECTION 72.122. USE OF STREETS FOR STORAGE OF VEHICLES PROHIBITED.
(a) No person who owns or has possession, custody or control of any vehicle shall park such vehicle upon any street or alley for more than a consecutive period of 72 hours. A vehicle shall be considered to have been parked for a consecutive period of 72 hours if it has not been moved at least five tenths (.5) of a mile from its original parked (stopped) location within the preceding 72 hour period.

(b) In the event a vehicle is parked upon a street in excess of a consecutive period of 72 hours in violation of this section, the Sheriff or any member of the Highway Patrol of the State of California may remove said vehicle from the street in the manner and subject to the requirements of Sections 22651 and 22652 of the Vehicle Code

PASSED AND ADOPTED THIS 26th DAY OF APRIL 2006

And, just for argument sake, notice in (a) how it uses the term 'alley'... I mean, when is an alley considered a highway
Easy answer, since the ordinance states that no vehicle can park in an alley for the same 72 hour period.

Why not just argue that your car does not fall under the jurisdiction of the CHP- after all, they are the California HIGHWAY Patrol- and you were on a street, right?

 

[HighwayMan]

That's Bizarre.

No it is not. Most states define "highway" or "public highway" to be any roadway, parking lot, etc open to public motor vehicle traffic including areas that are actually privately owned.

There are different types of highways, like streets, controlled access highways, etc.

In California, CVC 360 apparently gives you your definition of "highway". Here it is:

360. "Highway" is a way or place of whatever nature, publicly
maintained and open to the use of the public for purposes of
vehicular travel. Highway includes street.

 

[FlyingRon]

No it is not. Most states define "highway" or "public highway" to be any roadway, parking lot, etc open to public motor vehicle traffic including areas that are actually privately owned.

There are different types of highways, like streets, controlled access highways, etc.

In California, CVC 360 apparently gives you your definition of "highway". Here it is:

360. "Highway" is a way or place of whatever nature, publicly
maintained and open to the use of the public for purposes of
vehicular travel. Highway includes street.

In fact, that is pretty much the same definition that the Oxford English Dictionary gives:
A public road open to all passengers, a high road;

 

[TaoWanderer]

So from what I gather is you can park in the same spot every night as long as move it 1/2 away and back once every 3 day, but might still get towed anyway if someone says you've been parked for 3 days without moving and the LEO believes them without verifying that you've not moved 1/2 mile and back. The half mile part just seems a little silly cause it's all but impossible to verify whether or not a parked car has move a half mile in the last 72 hours, unless of course they check the odometer and come back 3 days later and check it again, which I kinda doubt they do that with most odometer being digital these days. Not saying it's a bad law, just impossible to enforce fairly according to the way it's written.

 

[HighwayMan]

Why are you so hung up on this issue? Would you mind explaining?

It just doesn't seem like it would get enforced very much unless someone makes a complaint about some wreck being parked on their block.

 

[CdwJava]

Since you are in the county, and the CHP rarely writes parking tickets for county codes, I think you are okay unless a neighbor calls to complain about your car.

If you are that concerned, video tape your moving the car a half mile or more once every three days.