Dubuque, IA Parking Rules: Driveway Rules (2026)

Dubuque City Code § 16-14-5 sets accessory parking and storage standards for residential lots zoned R-1, R-2, R-2A, R-3, R-4 or OR, or used principally as a residence. Subsection D.2, titled 'Front Yard Storage Prohibited,' bars storing any vehicle in a residential front yard under any circumstances, though the same subsection allows front yard parking (as opposed to storage) if it otherwise conforms to the section's standards; the code separately defines parking as placement not exceeding forty eight hours and storage as placement exceeding forty eight hours, so a longer stay in the front yard is not permitted even where shorter parking is.

Subsection D.7, 'Paved Parking And Storage Areas,' requires every vehicle to be parked and stored on a hard surface driveway or pad paved as defined in Title 16, Chapter 2, with the paved area at least as large as the vehicle's outside dimensions, ruling out parking on bare lawn, gravel or dirt. The same section requires a twenty foot front yard setback for any garage that opens onto or faces the street in districts with a shorter standard setback, and requires vehicles to be stored in a rear yard where one exists, or a side yard only where no rear yard is reasonably accessible. The rule dates to Ordinance 52-09 (October 19, 2009).