Bowie, MD Parking Rules: Commercial & Oversized Vehicles (2026)

Section 26-3A reaches any residentially zoned property or any lot improved with a residential structure, expressly naming single-family homes, townhouses, condominiums and apartments, so the ban follows the zoning and improvement rather than just the property's use. It defines the prohibited class of commercial vehicle by five independent triggers, any one of which is enough: exceeding the manufacturer's 7,500-pound gross vehicle weight rating, carrying advertising or lettering taller than four inches, carrying more than 300 cubic feet of load space, having dual rear axles, or being a stake platform truck, crane truck or tow truck.

The only way to keep such a vehicle on qualifying residential property is inside a private parking garage; a driveway, yard or street frontage on the lot does not qualify. The section works as the mirror image of § 26-4D, which affirmatively permits one smaller commercial vehicle per lot, one that stays under 7,500 pounds, carries no lettering or logo over four inches, stays under 300 cubic feet of load space, and is not a stake, dual-axle, crane or tow truck, so a landscaper's pickup can typically stay while a full box truck or tow truck cannot.

Added by Ordinance No. O-9-12 in December 2012 and amended again by Ordinance No. O-3-23 in April 2023, the rule is enforced by Bowie Code Compliance as a Chapter 1, § 1-6 violation.