Palm Springs greenlights Vehicle Sales Ban on City Streets

The Palm Springs City Council passed an ordinance Wednesday night that prohibits people from parking vehicles in public streets to sell them.

The city has received recurring complaints about vehicles sitting on streets for days while owners try to sell them, taking up parking spots and creating safety hazards when pedestrians stop to browse cars in high-traffic areas.

The ordinance bans "Vehicle Commercial Activity" in public spaces—parking a vehicle primarily to sell, rent, or transfer it. Violations can be established without looking at any "for sale" signs. Enforcement focuses on patterns like repeatedly parking the same vehicle in the same area or coordinating test drives from the curb.

The city built in a narrow exception for residents selling their own cars. People can 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.

Violations will be enforced through administrative citations, with each day counting as a separate violation. The first offense starts at $100 and reaches upward of $500 with repeated offenses.