Got a Encinitas parking ticket?

How to pay a Encinitas parking ticket, from the City:

• Online, any time, with a $3.50 surcharge (have the citation or courtesy notice handy).
• By phone: the City's Finance Department cashier, 760-633-2654.
• By mail: with the original citation or courtesy notice, to Code Enforcement Division, ATTN: Parking Citations, 505 S. Vulcan Ave, Encinitas, CA 92024. No cash.
• In person: the City cashier, 505 S. Vulcan Ave, Monday to Thursday 8am to 5pm and alternate Fridays 8am to 4pm. Cash, check, money order or credit/debit card; no American Express.

Pay within 21 days of the ticket (or 14 days of a courtesy notice): after that the City says the fee can double and a hold can go on your DMV registration.

1. Move fast: California Vehicle Code section 40215 gives you 21 calendar days from the ticket (or 14 days from a delinquent notice) to ask for a review.
2. Send the City's Parking Citation Initial Review Request with a copy of the citation and anything that supports you, online, in person at the Finance Department cashier, or by mail to City of Encinitas, ATTN: Parking Citations, 505 S. Vulcan Ave. The City's first-level appeal page.
3. It must arrive within 21 calendar days of the ticket or 14 days of the courtesy notice, or it won't be reviewed. A ticket from the last week may not be online yet: mail it or bring it in.
4. No decision letter after 2 weeks? Call 760-943-2299. If the citation is upheld, you have 21 days to pay, or to pay and request an administrative hearing.
5. Evidence that helps: a photo of the sign, the curb, the meter or pay station, your payment receipt or app screenshot, a placard.
6. If the review goes against you, the decision explains the next step (a hearing).

California Vehicle Code 40220 requires a low-income payment plan. How Encinitas runs it:

• For unpaid parking tickets totaling $500 or less, if your income is at or under 125% of the federal poverty line, or you get SSI, CalFresh, Medi-Cal, IHSS, CalWORKs, CAPI or General Relief.
• Apply within 120 days of the ticket (or 10 days after a hearing decision): a letter with your name, address, phone, email and citation numbers, plus proof (a pay stub or bank statement, or a benefits letter), mailed to AB503 / AB2544 Payment Plan, City of Encinitas, P.O. Box 10479, Newport Beach, CA 92658-0479. Questions: 1-800-989-2058.
• Pay up to $25 a month, done within 24 months; a $5 fee; late fees and penalties waived while you keep up. The City's payment plan page.

If you have a valid placard but it wasn't displayed, the City can dismiss a disabled-space ticket for a $25 administrative fee. Provide your valid placard, the DMV placard registration or receipt, your driver's license or state ID, and the original citation or courtesy notice, within 21 days of the ticket (or 14 days of the courtesy notice). A placard issued after the ticket date doesn't count. The City's disabled parking page.

• The beach lots at Moonlight, Swami's and Cardiff fill early on warm weekends; the State Beach lots charge a fee.
• Every Encinitas and Cardiff beach lot, or take the Coaster to Encinitas station.

Encinitas parking · Solana Beach parking tickets · Del Mar parking tickets

Send PJ a photo of the ticket and the spot, and he'll write up the review request with you and mail it, or put together the payment plan letter. Text PJ.

Sources: City of Encinitas, Parking Citations & Appeals (paying, first-level appeal, indigent payment program and disabled parking pages); California Vehicle Code 40215 and 40220. Checked October 13, 2026.

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This page is built every morning from public data by SideGuy, run by PJ, a local in Solana Beach. If something looks off, or you want a hand with your plans, text PJ at 858-461-8054. A real person answers.

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