Norfolk, VA Parking Rules: Driveway Rules (2026)

1(a) makes it unlawful to park or store a motor vehicle on an unimproved surface, including but not limited to dirt or grass, in the front yard, corner side yard or buffer yard of a lot in a residence district, unless the director of public works has approved that specific area for parking. The rule targets the practice of driving onto and parking on a lawn or unpaved strip rather than using a driveway or approved parking pad. 2-100, and points to the city's separate zoning ordinance for the operative definitions of 'front yard,' 'buffer yard,' 'corner side yard,' 'residence district' and 'lot,' meaning the zoning ordinance, not this section, fixes exactly where those yard boundaries fall on a given lot.

Because the zoning ordinance is a separate Municode instrument from the general code, a resident who wants the precise boundary of a buffer yard or corner side yard on a specific parcel needs to consult that separate publication rather than Chapter 25. Subsection (c) assigns enforcement to any designated special police officer, the fire marshal or his assistants, or any law enforcement officer, the same enforcement roster used for the neighboring commercial-vehicle and recreational-vehicle parking sections. The provision was adopted by Ordinance No. 40,336, § 1, on June 5, 2001, as part of the same ordinance package that added the commercial vehicle and RV parking rules that immediately follow it in the code.