Boone County, IN Parking Rules: Abandoned Vehicles (2026)

The Boone County Area Plan Commission enforces this rule as part of the off-street parking and loading standards in the county zoning ordinance. Section 157.033(A)(2) already limits how long any off-street parking space may hold a vehicle for anything beyond normal use: continuous storage of vehicles for more than 48 hours is barred outright, closing the loophole of treating a driveway or lot as long-term storage. Subsection (A)(3) then targets vehicles that are not just parked too long but disabled: an automotive vehicle or trailer of any type that carries no license plates and sits in an inoperable condition, so that it amounts to dead storage, cannot sit outdoors in a residential district.

The only lawful place for such a vehicle in a residential district is inside a completely enclosed building, for example a garage with the doors closed, not a carport, tarp or fenced yard. Outside residential districts the same vehicle still cannot be parked or stored unless the zoning chapter specifically authorizes it for that use or district. A property owner who wants to keep a non-running project car, an unregistered trailer or a wrecked pickup on a residential lot in unincorporated Boone County has to move it into an enclosed structure or dispose of it; leaving it in the driveway or side yard invites a zoning complaint to the Director under § 157.164, who can investigate and refer the matter to the Area Plan Commission or Board of Zoning Appeals.