Decatur, AL Parking Rules: Driveway Rules (2026)

Section 25-16 of the Code of Decatur, Alabama is the parking standard for every zoning district in the city. For residential lots, subsection (1) sets the count: provision for two vehicles for the occupants of each dwelling unit in all cases of new structures. Subsection (6) sets the size of a space at not less than 180 square feet, plus a driving aisle sized to current design standards, all inside the boundary lines of the property. A space that opens onto a public alley is the one exception to the aisle rule: it still needs 180 square feet for the automobile.

The surface rule is the sentence that matters for gravel, dirt and grass parking. All parking areas must be surfaced for all-weather use equivalent to at least four inches of limestone, so a bare or grassed front-yard pad does not satisfy the code. Subsection (7) adds a layout rule: no space can be designed to require a vehicle to back onto a public street, except at single and two-family residences, which keeps ordinary driveways outside that ban.

Other parts of the section limit how the spaces are counted. Required parking for one building cannot be counted for another, though it can count as yard space. A building that already met the standard has to keep meeting it. The section does not apply in the B-5 Central Business District or any district whose own regulations provide for vehicle storage and parking. The landscaping and lighting subsection (9) reaches lots with at least 15 vehicles or 5,000 square feet and excludes single-family residential districts. The city building director is the approving authority.