Aurora, IL Parking Rules: Driveway Rules (2026)

Property Maintenance Code § 301.3.2, found at Aurora Code of Ordinances § 12-102, is short, and each of its sentences does separate work.

The opening sentence sets the general rule: "It shall be unlawful to park any vehicle on any type of surface not approved under the applicable provisions of Section 10 of the Aurora Zoning Ordinance." Approval is the test. A surface is lawful for parking only if the parking standards in Section 10 of the zoning ordinance approve it. The rule covers "any vehicle," so it is not limited to passenger cars.

The next sentence removes any doubt about lawns and bare ground: "Parking on grass or dirt shall be prohibited." It contains no exception, no time allowance and no reference to a particular yard, so it applies anywhere on the premises.

The last sentence treats gravel differently. Gravel parking is prohibited "unless said condition is legal and nonconforming pursuant to Sections 6 and 10 of the Aurora Zoning Ordinance." In plain terms, a gravel parking area that was already legal before the zoning code changed may continue. A newly created gravel area does not qualify, because it was never a legal condition to begin with. An owner keeping an older gravel area is relying on Sections 6 and 10 of the zoning ordinance for that right, not on the Property Maintenance Code.

The section does not publish its own list of approved surfaces. It borrows the standard from the Aurora Zoning Ordinance and then enforces it as a property maintenance matter. Front-yard parking is limited separately, to the locations the zoning ordinance authorizes for the home-rule city.