Baytown, TX Parking Rules: Driveway Rules (2026)

Sec. 94-189, adopted to protect property values, prevent utility damage, and limit fuel and chemical runoff, applies to single-family and duplex residential lots. It defines 'front yard' broadly to include the area between the front property line and the street curb, and for corner lots, treats both street-facing sides as front yards. 'Improved surface' means concrete, brick, pavers, asphalt, or an equivalent material approved by the chief building official; gravel and crushed stone do not qualify unless they were already in place before March 23, 2008, and still serve as an all-weather surface.

The core prohibition in subsection (c)(1) bars parking, standing, or storing any motor vehicle, non-motorized vehicle, or recreational vehicle in a front yard at all, and subsection (c)(2) caps any improved parking area in the front yard at 25 feet wide at any point or 50 percent of the lot's average width, whichever is greater. A vehicle escapes the ban only if all its wheels rest on a qualifying improved surface under subsection (d). Owners with excess lot coverage or insufficient curbside street parking may also raise the defense in subsection (e), tied to the maximum lot coverage allowed under the Unified Land Development Code.

Enforcement authority is shared by the police, health, and planning and development services departments, and vehicle ownership at the time of the offense is treated as prima facie evidence the owner parked it there, though the owner may rebut that presumption with contrary proof.