Portage County, WI Parking Rules: Commercial & Oversized Vehicles (2026)

Section 7.1.6(1)(e), the county zoning code's Motor Vehicles and Parking section, treats commercial trucks differently depending on the district. In the Residence Districts, Section 7.1.6(1)(e)2 states plainly that 'no commercial motor vehicle exceeding five tons rated capacity shall be stored in any private garage or on any lot,' a flat weight-based ban that covers box trucks, dump trucks and similar equipment parked at a residence regardless of whether the vehicle is registered to the resident. The same subsection's first item limits garage rentals in the Residence and Agricultural Districts to no more than half the space of any private garage for a non-resident's passenger vehicle, unless the garage holds two vehicles or fewer.

Section 7.1.6(1)(d)8 adds that 'inoperable and/or unlicensed motor vehicles, and/or solid waste cannot be stored/placed in the front yard in the Residence Zoning Districts,' with the front yard measured once the principal structure is built. Agricultural districts follow a different rule: Section 7.1.3(4)(b) lists 'one semi-tractor/trailer or commercial vehicles per parcel' among the Exclusive Agricultural District's permitted uses, letting a working farm keep one such vehicle onsite where a residential lot could not. Commercial and industrial-zoned lots face their own loading-space and alley-access requirements instead of the residential vehicle limits.