Blaine, MN Parking Rules: Driveway Rules (2026)

Section 129-13(9), part of the zoning ordinance's off-street parking standards, applies to all single-family and two-family residential lots except apartment buildings and the FR and RE zoning districts, and specifically to detached single-family lots in the city's DF and RF flex districts. It starts by limiting front and corner side yard parking to 'operable vehicles registered and licensed to the occupants of the dwelling unit and their guests only,' closing off unpaved front-yard parking for junk or unregistered cars. Vehicles and storage in the front yard or corner side yard are permitted only on paved driveways, and those paved driveways can't exceed 45 percent of the combined front-yard and corner-side-yard area.

Driveway width beyond the public right-of-way is capped too: 36 feet for homes with a garage 36 feet wide or less, 45 feet for wider garages, with a narrow allowance to extend a driveway ten feet past the garage's side wall if setbacks are maintained. Side-yard storage needs an access drive and must respect the driveway setback. In the rear yard, passenger vehicles must stay on paved driveways leading to a detached garage that serves as the home's sole garage, while recreational vehicles, boats, truck toppers and trailers may sit on paved or unpaved surfaces if they respect the setback, and street-legal collector vehicles can occupy an unpaved surface for up to two years if screened by a six-foot solid fence.

Property that lacked a paved driveway before the ordinance's effective date isn't required to pave, and lots without a home or other principal use can't be used for vehicle or trailer parking at all.