Columbia, SC Parking Rules: Driveway Rules (2026)

Sec. 2(c)(3)c, Parking in Front of Residential Structure, governs the yard between a home's street-facing facade and the abutting street. Within that area, parking any vehicle, including a car, truck, van, bus, motorcycle, ATV, RV, camper, trailer, boat, or jet ski, outside of a defined parking space is prohibited outright. No more than 40 percent of that front area, or 500 square feet, whichever is greater, may be covered in vehicular surface, and on a corner or through lot with street frontage on more than one side, parking spaces and the driveway can occupy only one of those street-facing areas, not both.

Separately, Sec. 2(c)(2), Surfacing, generally requires off-street parking and driveways to be paved in asphalt, concrete, brick, stone, pavers, or an equivalent hard, dustless, bonded material kept smooth and dust-free. Subsection d, Certain Residential Uses, carves out single-family detached, two-family, and townhouse driveways: in place of full paving, the surface may instead be crushed stone, gravel, or mulch, provided it is confined within the parking space or driveway by an edging device such as bricks, railroad ties, or plastic/PVC landscape borders, and is renewed or replaced as needed to stay neat and orderly.

A homeowner can also use two paved 'tire ribbon' strips sized to the wheel path instead of surfacing the whole driveway. These standards are administered by the Zoning Administrator under Article 5 of the UDO, adopted August 20, 2019.