New Berlin, WI Parking Rules: Driveway Rules (2026)

Section 275-57 E of the Code of Ordinances governs every driveway installed, altered, changed, reconstructed or extended after the zoning chapter's effective date, with an exception for approved joint or shared driveways at a common access point. Subsection E(1) sets a flat five-foot setback from all side lot lines. Subsection E(2) splits the surfacing standard by district: driveways in agricultural and single-family residential districts only need to be graded and surfaced so they stay dust-free and properly drained, which allows gravel or a similar dust-free base rather than pavement, while driveways in every other district, including multifamily, commercial and industrial zones, must be paved with asphalt or concrete.

The Department can waive paving for up to 12 months to let a new driveway settle or to work around the season, and it can require a financial surety guaranteeing the paving actually gets finished once the waiver period runs out. Subsection E(3) adds a location rule for corner lots on culs-de-sac and curved streets: the driveway cannot extend past the lot line as extended to the curbline or pavement edge unless the Plan Commission allows it. These driveway standards sit alongside a separate residential parking-surface rule in Subsection A(7)(d), which repeats the dust-free grading requirement for off-street parking areas in agricultural and single-family districts and gives those areas 18 months from the building permit to be completed, and alongside a driveway-width table, Table 275-57-7, that sets minimum and maximum opening widths by zoning district.