So of course if you park in a handicapped spot or in front of a hydrant you can expect a hefty ticket and possible towing. But how enforceable are those “other” spots retailers have? Employee of the month, hero/vet parking, expectant mother, on-line order pick-up, etc.
Besides you possibly being a big jerk by doing so is there anything a retailer could do outside of having the cops trespass you and ask you to leave? Could they legally have your car towed?
I admit there is a store nearby that has 4 spots reserved for on-line pickups (not the type where the employee runs it to your car) and I have been known to take the farthest out of these spots when all of them are empty when I just have to run in to buy something.
Those spots that are not ADA or state or local law mandated are not enforceable. I doubt there are any state or local laws that enforce ‘employee of the month,’ ‘veteran.’ ‘expectant mother.’ spots.
I think the best they can do is publicly shame you and ask you to move. I don’t know if they could legally tow your car, unless it was sitting there for a long time.
Without 100% certainty because I don’t know all of the rules in all government agencies, I don’t think you will get a government issued ticket.
I think one issue is whether it could be considered trespassing. Another is whether state law or local ordinance would allow the property holders to have the vehicle towed. All of that may vary by jurisdiction.
100% that. For store owners, that’s sort of our ‘catch all’ for getting people out of the store that are being a problem. We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone for (almost) any reason or no reason at all, and the police will back us up on that.
Towing the car would probably be a separate issue, but the police won’t have a problem removing the person from the premises and trespassing them if the store asks them to. Assuming the interaction doesn’t escalate into an arrest, the person would be able to leave with their car. If, for whatever reason, the car stays there, the store should be able to work with the police to have it removed.
In my area, at least the last time I had to do this years ago (but I think the rules are more lax now), I’d put a note on the car saying it’s on private property and needs to be removed, wait 24 hours, have the police ticket it for being abandoned, then call a local tow company to come get it. For the love of god, people, we aren’t your free airport parking. If you leave your car in my tiny parking lot and go on vacation, it won’t be there when you get back.
That’s another important part. If this is, for example, a strip mall, the store owner probably can’t do much about what happens in the parking lot. The property owner may have to make that call.
Another thing to remember is that those private spots (and street parking marked as a loading zone) are never going to be enforced by the police just based on them seeing someone parked there that shouldn’t be. In other words, nothing is going to happen by parking in the on-line pickup spot unless someone at the store calls the police.
As an anecdotal point from my local jurisdiction: any parking lot that is open to the public free of charge as part of a public place of business is available for anyone to park in for any reason up to one hour without restriction.
So if I want to get lunch at Joe’s, and I park in a spot in front of Frank’s, and Frank has signs posted that say, “Parking only for customers of Frank’s; violators will be towed”, that sign has no bite for the first hour that I’m eating at Joe’s.
This is just to say that you should just check your local laws. Local parking regulations are usually relatively concrete as laws go.
Although these parking lots are private property my understanding this is not the same thing as (say) a person’s driveway at their home.
These places are part of a public accommodation. The merchants need to allow people use of these things and let them into their stores except in narrow circumstances. Unlike a person’s home where you can deny access to anyone you want for any reason you want.
I am not sure how that is balanced in (say) a shopping mall (private property versus public access).
It’s been a while since I read the law, so I just looked it up again, and it’s not from my local city but actually the entire state.
California Vehicle Code 22953(a): An owner or person in lawful possession of private property that is held open to the public, or a discernible portion thereof, for parking of vehicles at no fee, or an employee or agent thereof, shall not tow or remove, or cause the towing or removal, of a vehicle within one hour of the vehicle being parked.
Other parts of the statute point out that civil remedies could be pursued, so I suppose it’s not fully open access if a business wanted to pursue something. But they definitely can’t just tow you, and my sense is that people do generally ignore such signs in my city itself for short stops into businesses.