Story County, IA Parking Rules: Abandoned Vehicles (2026)

08, as any area where junk or salvage is bought, sold, exchanged, disassembled, kept, stored, or handled, including auto or vehicle wrecking and dismantling. The same definition sets the numeric limit: no more than three junked vehicles are allowed on any lot, parcel, or tract in any zoning district unless the property is properly zoned for that use or has an approved conditional use permit from the Board of Adjustment. Having more than three abandoned, wrecked, scrapped, ruined, dismantled, or inoperative motor vehicles on a lot is treated as prima facie evidence that a junk or salvage yard exists there, which shifts the burden to the property owner to show otherwise.

The county carves out two exceptions: vehicles currently licensed for the year, and vehicles legally placed in storage if kept inside a completely enclosed building. 08 separately defines a junked vehicle as one lacking a current Iowa Department of Transportation registration or its equivalent, one that has had parts removed for reuse, salvage, or sale, or one that has been incapable of operating under its own power for more than 90 days, so a vehicle can trip the count even with plates still on it if it has sat dead that long.

A rural salvage yard use itself, if a landowner wants to run one alongside an owner-occupied single-family dwelling, appears in Table 90-1 of the Land Development Regulations as a use requiring both a conditional use permit and supplemental standards.