Seattle to resume enforcement of its 72-hour parking rule – KIRO 7 News Seattle

SEATTLE – As the number of abandoned vehicles in Seattle increases, the city will enforce its 72-hour parking rule starting October 15.

The revival of 72-hour parking patrols has come with increased requests to remove abandoned junk vehicles from city streets, as well as changing travel patterns and demand for parking spaces.

While any vehicle parked in one location for more than 72 hours may receive a ticket or warning notice, the city is initially focused on towing unoccupied, dangerous vehicles that may have been abandoned in the past 19 months.

However, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) park officials will not seize an RV or any other vehicle with a person living in it unless it poses a specific public health risk. Examples are:

• Inadequate sanitation that poses a direct risk of illness or injury.
• Inadequate protection exposing occupants to the elements.
• Other environmental, fire, health and safety hazards.

According to SDOT, people will soon be able to use the Find It, Fix It app to report abandoned vehicles that have been parked on the street for more than 72 hours. City officials said because the 72-hour rule has been paused for so long, inquiries are expected to take longer than usual to be answered.

Enforcement of the rule was suspended in March 2020 due to the pandemic and the nationwide stay at home order. During that time, other parking rules were enforced and Seattle continued its RV redevelopment program with the Seattle Public Utilities to clean up trash in RV hotspots, SDOT said.

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