Palm Springs Council to Consider Restricting Vehicle Sales on City Streets

The Palm Springs City Council will introduce an ordinance Wednesday night that would largely prohibit people from parking vehicles in public streets and rights-of-way to sell them.

According to a city staff report, there are recurring complaints about vehicles sitting on streets for days at a time while owners try to sell them. Residents say these vehicles take up parking spots that neighbors and visitors need, and create safety hazards when pedestrians stop to browse cars in areas where traffic moves quickly.

The ordinance aims to ban what it calls "Vehicle Commercial Activity" in public spaces—parking a vehicle in a street or right-of-way primarily to sell, rent, or transfer it. Investigators say violations can be established without any "for sale" signs, and would focus on patterns like repeatedly parking the same vehicle in the same area for extended periods or coordinating test drives from the curb.

The city is building in a narrow exception for residents selling their own cars. People could still park a vehicle for sale within one-tenth of a mile of where it's registered—roughly a block or two from home—as long as it's legally parked, follows posted time limits, and doesn't create safety problems. However, that safe harbor wouldn't apply if someone has more than one vehicle per adult household member parked for sale at the same time.

Violations would be enforced through administrative citations, with each day counting as a separate violation. The city thinks a vehicle is being used for commercial activity if it's parked within 1,000 feet of the same spot for more than 72 straight hours, though people could provide evidence they're using it for something else.

The city says the fiscal impact should be minimal, mostly affecting staff time for enforcement. After its introduction tonight, the ordinance would come back for final adoption at a future meeting and take effect 30 days after that.

Council will also review the city's financial audit reports for the 2024-2025 fiscal year and a mid-year budget update for Palm Springs International Airport.

The meeting starts at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall, 3200 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way.