Vancouver's 100-foot rule and selling a car that fails it

Two limits in Section 17.14.280

The section handles junk and inoperable cars a little differently:

• Junk vehicles: "The storage or retention of junk vehicles on private property is declared a public nuisance and is prohibited." No allowance at all.
• Inoperable vehicles: also a nuisance, but with a cap: "No more than (1) unenclosed or unscreened inoperable vehicle may be on a property at any one time." A second dead car needs a garage or a screen, or it has to go.

The carve-out is narrow: a car kept "in connection with the business of a licensed vehicle dismantler or licensed vehicle dealer" on fenced private property. The same section also keeps parked cars out of setbacks, apart from front or side-street setbacks where the car sits on a driveway leading to an approved parking spot.

Where state law takes over

The city section we read sets no removal clock, so Washington statute supplies one. A Vancouver landowner writes to the registered and legal owners first. If nobody claims the abandoned junk vehicle in 15 days, the landowner can dispose of it. Abandoning a junk car is a gross misdemeanor. The registered owner pays back double the cost of removing it.

Franklin Street and the paperwork

One office we checked for Clark County is at 1300 Franklin Street, in a straight line about 4 miles west of central Vancouver. Washington titles are processed for the Department of Licensing at county auditor and subagent counters like it.

• What a Vancouver seller does: releases interest on the title, fills out a bill of sale with the buyer (not needed if the title shows the amount and sale day), holds on to the plates, and tells DOL within 5 days.
• The buyer's side: sign the Vehicle Title Application with a notary or a licensing clerk watching. Transferring late costs the buyer a $50 penalty on day sixteen, then $2 more each day, capped at $125.

Vancouver sellers need no emissions test. Washington stopped those tests on January 1, 2020.

Getting an offer

Use the form or call (877) 421-6008. The form covers the details for your Vancouver car. Our truck comes to the east side, downtown, or spots by the river. In a straight line, Camas is 8.4 miles away and Battle Ground is 10.0. See the Washington page for state rules.