On the other hand, they could quite legally ticket and tow you for violating
zoning ordinances, private property or not. They can do that here (they can
also ticket you for doing mechanicle work on a vehicle in a parking lot,
among other things), but they seem to leave the Wal-mart to handle their lot
at their own discretion.

Cya,
Robert

On 5/19/08, John Bange <jbange@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Does anyone know if you can get a ticket for staying overnight in a NJ
> walmart lot?
> > Anyone positive either way??
>
> Well, the law regarding this stuff is pretty consistent across all 50
> states: if it's private property, they can't give you a parking
> ticket, nor can you usually be charged with a moving violation for
> that matter. There are a few caveats, such as DUI laws that kick in
> with you passed out in the back seat in a parking lot of a bar, but
> you put your keys in the ignition so that somehow shows "intent to
> drive" so they can arrest you for DUI. Also, ticketing people in
> disabled parking spaces who don't show a placard is another exception.
> But I digress.
>
> Parking ticket wise, if it's not a public street or gov't owned/run
> parking lot, you're fairly safe from the parking enforcement
> jerks...errr OFFICERS. The owner of the property, however, can call
> and have you towed away by the parking enforcement OFFICERS if he
> requests they come on to his property to do so, so make sure whoever
> runs the lot (e.g. WalMart) is OK with it. But again, there's always
> the problem of YOU knowing the law, but the parking OFFICER being
> ignorant of it and writing you a ticket anyway! You being right will
> get you out of it eventually, but not without a lot of bureaucratic
> wrangling. It's like they say: being innocent doesn't keep you from
> being arrested, it just (hopefully) keeps you from being convicted...
>
> --
> John Bange
> '90 Vanagon - "Lastwagen"
> '90 Vanagon GL - "Wiesel"
>