Corvallis, OR Parking Rules: Driveway Rules (2026)

Corvallis regulates where a vehicle can sit in a front or side yard by regulating the surface underneath it, not by banning yard parking outright. Section 6.10.040.040(6) prohibits parking on private property, in any yard adjacent to or visible from a street, except on a driveway or parking area that is paved with concrete, asphalt, or another hard surface the City Engineering Division has approved. The Section carries one grandfathered exception: a gravel surface qualifies too, but only if it was improved before February 7, 1980, and the code is explicit that using an older approved gravel surface this way does not itself violate any other City ordinance.

A gravel pad built or resurfaced after that 1980 date does not qualify, so a yard with newer gravel is treated the same as bare dirt or grass under this rule. The Section defines 'vehicle' broadly for this purpose, borrowing the Oregon Vehicle Code's definitions of 'vehicle' and 'motor vehicle,' and it applies whether or not the vehicle is currently operable or usable, so an inoperable car sitting on an unpaved yard is just as much a violation as a running one. This surface rule sits in the same prohibited-parking list as the City's bans on selling merchandise from a parked vehicle and its 48-hour parking limits, all inside Section 6.10.040.040.

A violation is punished under the Chapter 6.10 general penalty, Section 6.10.080.010, with a fine of up to $150.00, community service, and/or impoundment of the vehicle by the Corvallis Police Department.