Janesville, WI Parking Rules: Driveway Rules (2026)

Section 42-359(b)(1) requires all driveways and open off-street parking areas to be surfaced with a dustless all-weather material such as bituminous pavement, concrete or brick, graded and drained to dispose of surface water. Single-family residential properties get up to three years from the date a building permit is issued to complete that surfacing, and the surfacing rule does not reach driveways or parking areas that were already legally nonconforming before November 13, 2000. Section 42-359(b)(4), titled 'No parking permitted on lawns,' backs the surfacing rule with a use restriction: no vehicle may park on a required front or corner side setback except on a paved or hard-surfaced driveway or parking area, closing off grass parking even where a driveway exists nearby.

The same section's lighting clause, Section 42-359(b)(2), requires any lighting illuminating off-street parking to be directed away from residential properties and public streets so it does not create a nuisance. Separately, Section 42-440(a)(4) addresses recreational and camping equipment, including boats, travel trailers and motor homes, parked on residential lots: it must be garaged where a garage of sufficient size exists, otherwise stored behind the front building line or in the driveway, and never in a required side setback except in the driveway, with no more than two such vehicles per lot and a 48-hour loading exception.