EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. – The El Dorado County Board of Supervisors had a second reading of an amended ordinance on their meeting agenda Tuesday that, if approved, would have prohibited parking on county roads from November 1 through May 1. Exempt from that ordinance would have been “except in areas specifically designated by signs to permit such parking.”
It was agreed by the supervisors and the county transportation staff that the ordinance was not ready to be approved, and they will instead hold some public town halls and meet with stakeholders for new rules before the 2026/27 winter.
District V Supervisor Brooke Laine had asked for the item to be pulled off the consent agenda. She had heard from many Lake Tahoe basin residents and recreationists who park on the county roads to access the backcountry. They were concerned about the unintended consequences of a blanket rule with a one-size-fits-all basis.
The current “no parking allowed during snow removal operations” is an ambiguous statement and often misinterpreted by those who want to park. When it is not snowing, for instance, but snow removal crews are working to widen lanes or clean up areas, drivers often think it is okay to park. That hasn’t been the case and many cars are ticketed annually.
The work to tighten up the current ordinance created other concerns, most notably, no parking allowed all winter, even when there is no snow on the ground, as the region is currently experiencing.
Laine and the Department of Transportation will hold town halls next year and work through the issues with the public, defining what roads would be exempt, having maps to guide drivers, and other points.
Until then, the current ordinances remain in place:
Sec. 10.12.184. – Same—Lake Tahoe Basin Watershed Area; interference prohibited.
A. In unincorporated areas of the County within the Lake Tahoe Watershed Area, no person shall park any vehicle on a County-owned public road, highway, or right-of-way, except in areas specifically designated by signs to permit such parking, during the period for which the Director of Transportation has declared a “snow removal condition” exists. In addition to the foregoing, it is unlawful to park on a County-owned public road, highway, or right-of-way in that portion of the County lying south of the Placer/El Dorado County line, and north of the Placer/El Dorado County line, and north of the Bliss State Park’s north boundary within the Lake Tahoe Basin Watershed Area, during the period commencing November 1 of each year, and continuing to the following May 1, except in areas specifically designated by signs to permit such parking.
- In addition to citation powers, any officer specified in Vehicle Code § 2265 may remove or cause to be removed a vehicle in violation of this section.
2. For purposes of this section, the term “park” or “parking” means the standing of a vehicle, whether occupied or not, otherwise than temporarily for the purpose of and while actually engaging in loading or unloading of merchandise or passengers.
B. Whenever any officer, as defined in Vehicle Code § 22651, finds a vehicle standing upon a highway in violation of Subsection A of this section, the officer may move the vehicle or require the driver or other person in charge of the vehicle to move it, or may remove and store the vehicle.
C. No person shall throw or deposit or cause to be thrown or deposited upon a highway any snow or ice in an amount or manner likely to constitute a hazard to vehicular traffic.