Charlottesville, VA Parking Rules: Driveway Rules (2026)

Development Code Sec. 8 governs where on-site parking is or is not allowed between the building and the street, and applies to every lot in the City of Charlottesville that provides on-site parking under Sec. B. Sec. 1 lets on-site parking sit only in the yard the zoning district specifies, and Sec. 2 allows parking in a side street yard only on a driveway that meets Sec. 3, Vehicle Access. Where the district bars parking from the front yard or side street yard, Sec. a is explicit that no portion of a designated parking space may sit in that yard at all; a driveway meeting Sec.

3 is still allowed to cross the yard, but it cannot double as permanent parking once it gets there. Sec. b limits a side-yard driveway to one side of the lot, though that driveway may continue into the front or rear yard to reach the lot line, and Sec. c bars parking or vehicle-use areas from sitting between the street and any part of a building used to satisfy a build-to width requirement. The Administrator determines yard designation under Sec. D when a lot's front, side street, side or rear yard is disputed.

In practice, a homeowner near the Downtown Mall or in a corridor mixed-use district cannot pave over a front lawn for extra parking spaces even if the driveway itself is legal, because only the driveway lane, not a parking pad beside it, is allowed to cross a no-parking yard.