Valet parking permit in Los Angeles: what LADOT and the Police Commission actually require

The thing most people get wrong on the first attempt

Operators tend to assume the valet permit is a police permit, so they call the police. That is half right, and starting there costs you weeks. In the City of Los Angeles the sequence runs LADOT first, LAPD second, and the police side will not grant the permit until the transportation side has signed off in writing.

The Los Angeles Department of Transportation states it plainly: before initiating the Valet Parking Operator permit application with the LAPD Commission Investigation Division, every valet operator must request a review of the proposed valet operation within the City right-of-way from LADOT's Parking Meters Division. The Board of Police Commissioners' own rules say the same thing from the other side: the operator must obtain clearance from LADOT and ensure it is transmitted to the Board in writing before a permit will be granted.

Both permits come from the same ordinance. Ordinance No. 182742, approved on 9 October 2013, added sections 103.203 and 103.203.1 to the Los Angeles Municipal Code and created the Valet Parking Operator and Valet Parking Attendant permits. LADOT's own summary sheet lists the effective date as 14 November 2013.

Who needs a permit, including the people who assume they do not

The code defines valet parking as receiving, taking possession of, driving, moving, parking or storing any vehicle that is left at one location to be driven to another location for parking, whether or not a charge is imposed for the service. The permit requirement attaches when the movement of vehicles happens on or over any public right-of-way or public property.

Read together with LADOT's requirements sheet, that produces a short list of things operators are routinely surprised by:

• A free valet still needs the permit. The definition does not turn on whether you charge. If a restaurant absorbs the cost and the guest pays nothing, the permit is still required.
• Crossing the sidewalk or the alley counts. The right-of-way includes roadways, parkways, alleys, sidewalks and pedestrian ways. Driving a guest's car across a public sidewalk to reach a private lot puts you inside the ordinance.
• Every location needs its own permit. The operator permit fee is charged per location, and a change of location carries its own fee.
• The auto park permit is separate. The valet permit is required in addition to any Auto Park permit on the lot where the cars are stored, not instead of it.
• There is no one-day event permit. LADOT's requirements sheet says so directly. The only carve-out in the ordinance is for a non-recurring special event at a private residence.
• If the business needs a permit, every driver needs one too. Attendant permits are individual and personal.

If you run more than one location, the ordinance points you at a Master Valet Parking Operator permit, which identifies each covered location and applies only to the locations named in it at the time of issue. Applications for additional locations under a master permit are filed in person at the main office of the Office of Finance, and the Board can grant a temporary permit for the new location the same day it is submitted, provided the master permit is on file, the fees and taxes are paid, and a preliminary investigation turns up nothing disqualifying.

Every fee the city publishes with a number on it

These are the figures the City of Los Angeles states publicly, consulted on 17 August 2026. Police permits in Los Angeles have to be renewed annually, so the third column is a recurring cost, not a one-off.

Sources: the LADOT Valet Zone process page for the first three lines, the Office of Finance Group 1 police permit fee schedule for the operator and auto park lines, and the Group 2 schedule for the attendant permit.

Two costs on that table have no public number and both can matter more than the ones that do. We could not find a published rate for the meter usage fee. LADOT calculates it per application based on the curb space you are asking for and issues an invoice at the end of the process, which means you learn the recurring cost of your zone after you have already paid the $427 and cleared the police permit. If you are modelling the business, that is the line to ask about on the very first phone call to (213) 473-8270.

The eight steps, and the two clocks inside them

LADOT publishes the process as eight steps. Condensed, with the deadlines that actually bind:

1. Initial review. Contact the Parking Meters Division to find out whether the operation is feasible at all. LADOT calls this a courtesy and says the guidance is advisory and can change after the full review. Do not spend money before this call.
2. Submit the application packet and the $427 fee. The packet is the completed valet application form, the contract between you and the business you will serve, the contract with the parking lot where cars will be stored, a valet route plan, and proof of online payment. It goes to ladot.valetop@lacity.org.
3. LADOT review. Staff review the packet and, where public curb space is involved, calculate the meter usage fee. If pick-up and drop-off happen entirely on private property, you may get preliminary approval here and skip the petition.
4. Collect petition signatures, if you are using public curb space. See below. Petitions must be returned within 30 days of receiving the form.
5. Petition verification and preliminary approval.
6. LAPD Police Commission review. The VPO application must reach LAPD within the deadline LADOT sets, roughly 15 days from preliminary approval.
7. Pay the meter usage fee and the $660 loading zone installation fee.
8. LADOT approves and installs the zone. Temporary signs go up first and you pay for those.

The petition threshold

If your valet uses public curb space, neighbouring businesses get a vote, and the bar is specific. LADOT requires signatures representing all properties that front at least 10 feet of the proposed on-street valet loading zone, at least 50% of the number of businesses on the affected block, and at least 67% of the linear frontage. Late or incomplete petitions may result in denial.

Two thresholds measured two different ways is not an accident. Fifty percent by count stops one large neighbour from carrying the block on its own, and 67% by frontage stops a row of small tenants from outvoting the buildings that will actually live with the zone. In practice it means a single hostile large frontage on your block can sink the application, so it is worth walking the block and talking to people before you pay the $427, not after.

Insurance: the numbers are in the code, not in a broker's opinion

Unusually for this kind of requirement, Los Angeles wrote the minimums into the ordinance itself. A permittee must obtain, carry and maintain in full force:

The conditions attached to those policies are as binding as the limits. Insurers must be admitted in the State of California or carry a current A.M. Best rating of no less than A:6. Deductibles may not exceed $5,000 per occurrence. Certificates on the City's own form must stay on file with the Board, the policies must name the City as an additional insured, they must include a waiver of subrogation, and the coverage must be primary to any coverage available to the City. Garage keeper's coverage can be a standalone policy or a component of a broader one.

Separately, the Board's rules require that proof of insurance be submitted to and maintained with the City's Risk Management office, which is a different desk from the one that issues the permit. LADOT's requirements sheet lists Risk Management at 200 N. Main St., Room 1240.

The bond nobody mentions until you are already operating

Los Angeles charges a parking occupancy tax of 10% of the parking fee, and the Office of Finance's own compliance guide names the valet service provider as an operator for this purpose. The tax is reported monthly and is due on or before the 25th of the following calendar month.

Attached to that tax is a collection bond, and the bond requirement applies for each parking facility conducted by the operator, explicitly including operation in the capacity of valet. The bond amount scales with gross receipts: the bottom tier is $5,000 for a facility with annual parking fee gross receipts under $50,000, rising in steps to $700,000 at the top. An operator with several locations can file one bond for the sum of the individual amounts. An operator who cannot qualify for a bond from a surety has to establish a cash deposit with the Office of Finance equal to 50% of the prescribed amount, and failure to do either can result in denial or revocation of the police auto park permit.

The attendant permit and the card on the right side

The attendant permit is its own application, its own fee and its own background check. Under LAMC 103.203.1, nobody may act as or be employed as a valet parking attendant until the Board has issued a written permit and the fees are paid. LADOT's requirements sheet lists what the applicant brings: the application form, a copy of a California driver's license, and Live Scan electronic fingerprinting. Applications go to the Police Commission permit counter at 100 W. First St., Room 147.

The permit is denied if the applicant has been convicted within the previous seven years of a felony or any offence involving violence, dishonesty, automobile theft, automobile vandalism, reckless driving, or driving under the influence. The same seven year standard appears on the operator's side as a hiring rule: a permittee may not allow an employee with any of those convictions to drive a patron's vehicle or handle a patron's keys. Practically, that means your hiring screen and the city's permit screen ask the same question, so an attendant who cannot get a permit is also an attendant you may not put on the keys.

There is a bridge for staffing. In place of the ordinary temporary permit, the Board's Executive Director may issue a temporary attendant permit for up to 45 days where the application is on file, all fees are paid, the preliminary investigation reveals nothing disqualifying, and the applicant holds a valid California driver's licence.

Then the part of the ordinance that gets enforced on the sidewalk. Every attendant holding a temporary or permanent permit must, at all times while engaged as an attendant, visibly display the Board-issued identification card on their person and make it available for inspection on request. The Board's rules add the detail the code leaves out: the card goes on the right side, and it must be shown to anyone who asks, not only to a police officer. The card goes back to the Board immediately on suspension, revocation, or the end of employment, which makes collecting badges part of your offboarding checklist rather than an afterthought.

Attendants must also carry a current valid California driver's licence at all times and present it to City officials on request, wear a standard uniform that conspicuously identifies them by full name and by the name of the valet business, and, when exposed to vehicular traffic, wear retroreflective warning garments manufactured to CALOSHA and California MUTCD requirements. Attendants walking between the valet zone and the parking facility have to obey traffic controls; the rules single out jaywalking and crossing against signals as prohibited.

What the permit obliges you to do every night

The operating requirements in the code and the Board's rules are more prescriptive than most operators expect, and they are enforceable against the permit. The ones with hard numbers or hard shapes:

• The claim check is specified in detail. It must be sequentially numbered, professionally printed, and state the terms and conditions of acceptance. The Board's rules require it to carry the operator's name, permit number, business address and telephone, the phone number of a responsible manager available during operation, the parking facility where the vehicle will be stored, the name and address of whoever operates that lot, and where the keys can be obtained after the lot or the valet closes. A portion carrying the terms must stay with the patron and not be surrendered when the car is claimed.
• The sign is a specification, not a suggestion. Not less than 24 by 36 inches, contrasting colours, showing your name, address, telephone, hours, police permit number and rates. The words "Valet Parking" and the maximum charge need lettering of at least three inches per character, and all fractions of time must be spelled out in letters.
• Rate changes take 10 days. Written notice to the Board with the new schedule, and a duplicate posted conspicuously at the stand for 10 days. Only after that may the new rates take effect, and charging above the posted rate is itself a violation.
• Routes are fixed. Vehicles move to and from the lot only on the approved routes. Shortcuts and U-turns are prohibited, with an exception only for genuine emergencies or street closures, and a copy of the approved route map must be available at the stand for anyone who asks to see it.
• Five feet of pedestrian clearance must stay open at all times, and no part of an umbrella or canopy other than its central support may sit lower than seven feet above the sidewalk.
• No queuing in travel lanes, ever. If demand outruns your staffing and vehicles start queuing or double-parking, the operation has to close temporarily and display a sign reading "FULL" that is clearly visible to approaching traffic.
• Five minutes at the drop-off, or ten where a ten minute sign is posted.
• Keys never stay with the car. Attendants lock the ignition and the vehicle, remove the key and put it somewhere safe. At closing, remaining vehicles are locked and the keys left with a responsible person at a safe and convenient place.
• Forty-eight hours triggers a call to the police, so the city can determine whether a vehicle left in your custody that long without a prior arrangement is stolen or abandoned.
• Records. A continuously updated list of the names and residence addresses of employees who perform valet, held at the business address on the permit and produced on demand of any peace officer. Financial records for a minimum of three years, available to the Office of Finance during operating hours. Original claim checks and associated business records are open to inspection and audit.
• The Board rules and the permit get posted at the location where patrons hand over their cars, visible to anyone who wants to read them, along with signage naming a responsible manager and a phone number for complaints.

On the enforcement end, the ordinance separates two kinds of failure. Breaching the operating requirements is not prosecuted as a misdemeanour; it is handled through administrative sanctions and civil remedies against the permit. Operating as a valet parking operator without a permit at all is a misdemeanour. And among the listed grounds for discipline is one that should be read out loud at staff training: knowingly delivering a vehicle in your custody to a person who is neither the registered owner nor entitled to possession.

"Los Angeles" is smaller than it looks on a map

Everything above applies to the City of Los Angeles. Several of the addresses an operator would describe as being in Los Angeles are legally separate incorporated cities with their own valet regimes, their own permit counters and their own fees. If your restaurant is in one of them, none of the process above is the one you follow.

• Beverly Hills issues valet permits through the Beverly Hills Police Department Traffic Bureau, not the LAPD. It requires a current Beverly Hills business tax certificate and a certificate of insurance approved by that city's Risk Management, attendants must be at least 18 with a California licence in their possession, and short-term applications go in at least 96 hours ahead.
• West Hollywood treats valet as a regulatory business licence, with a separate licence for each address where vehicles are received or delivered, plus encroachment permits for meters and for sidewalk signage.
• Santa Monica runs its own valet chapter of the municipal code (chapter 6.120), with a nonrefundable permit fee, a space use fee, and insurance satisfactory to that city's Risk Manager.

Hollywood, by contrast, is a neighbourhood of the City of Los Angeles and not a separate city, so a valet stand on Hollywood Boulevard runs through LADOT and the LAPD Board of Police Commissioners like everything else in the city. Downtown, Venice, Westwood and the San Fernando Valley are the same. The rule of thumb worth internalising is that the boundary that matters is the incorporated city limit, not the neighbourhood name, and the two do not line up the way people speak about them.

What we could not find published

In the interest of not padding this with guesses, here is what the public sources do not answer:

• The meter usage fee rate. It is calculated per application and invoiced after approval.
• How long the process takes end to end. Neither LADOT nor the Police Commission publishes a processing time, and the 45-day validity of preliminary approval is the only published duration on the critical path.
• The cost of Live Scan fingerprinting for attendant applicants, which is charged by the fingerprinting vendor rather than by the city.
• The cost of the temporary signs LADOT installs while permanent signage is fabricated, which the applicant is responsible for covering.

All four are questions for a single phone call. LADOT Parking Meters Division is on (213) 473-8270; the LAPD Police Commission Permit Processing Section is on (213) 996-1210.

Where software fits, and where it does not

Nothing on this page is a software problem, and it would be dishonest to pretend otherwise. ParkingPro does not file permits, does not talk to LADOT and does not issue attendant identification cards. Getting permitted in Los Angeles is paperwork, a background check and a petition, and no product removes any of that.

Where it does help is the day after the permit is granted, and specifically on the parts of the Board's rules that are really record-keeping obligations. The ordinance wants a sequentially numbered claim check carrying your operator name and permit number, financial records kept for three years and available to the Office of Finance, a parking occupancy tax return filed monthly, and card acceptance if you want to pursue the collection bond exemption. Those are exactly the things that stop being a chore once entries, exits and payments are being recorded as they happen instead of reconstructed from a stack of stubs. ParkingPro is self-service: you can open an account the evening the permit is approved and run the next shift on it, with 14 days free and no sales call in between.

If you are working through more than one city, we are building the same breakdown elsewhere: the Chicago valet operator licence, the New York City requirements, and Miami Beach, which is the closest thing in the country to Los Angeles for density of separately incorporated neighbours. On the operating side, our lost ticket policy guide covers the release procedure the Board's disciplinary grounds are pointing at, and if you are still choosing a system we collected every valet software price vendors actually publish alongside a guide to setting your own rates.

This article summarises publicly available City of Los Angeles sources and is general guidance, not legal, tax or insurance advice. Fee schedules, ordinance text and departmental procedures change, and requirements differ in neighbouring incorporated cities. Confirm current requirements directly with LADOT, the LAPD Board of Police Commissioners and the Office of Finance, and confirm your coverage with your insurance carrier, before operating. Sources were consulted on 17 August 2026. ParkingPro Cloud is a product of Abalon LLC.