Kent County, DE Parking Rules: Abandoned Vehicles (2026)

Section 205-27 treats unregulated vehicle storage as a junkyard problem and regulates it accordingly. Subsection B forbids using any land partially or principally as a junkyard or solid waste disposal facility. Subsection C goes further and bars parking, storing, collecting, accumulating or abandoning any inoperable, wrecked, partially dismantled or destroyed motor vehicle; any vehicle subject to Delaware's registration law that lacks current plates and a current-year validation tag from the Division of Motor Vehicles; or any vehicle that poses a threat to health, safety or general welfare.

Subsection D gives property owners a limited safety valve: no more than two motor vehicles per lot can be exempted from Subsection C if the owner can show the vehicle is recently purchased and pending inspection for no more than 60 consecutive days, actively advertised for sale for no more than 60 days, actively being repaired toward a registrable condition within 90 days (or a written extension the Department grants for good cause), or held pending settlement of an insurance, estate or similar claim. Subsection E adds a placement rule for any vehicle covered by the section: it cannot encroach into the front or side yard setback lines, so even an exempt vehicle has to stay out of the setback area.

The section exempts sanitary landfills operating under state and County law, licensed automotive dismantling and recycling facilities, vehicles stored as accessory to a lawful auto sales or service business, and any unregistered vehicle kept entirely inside a roofed, fully enclosed structure.