Richland, WA Parking Rules: Driveway Rules (2026)

Richland Municipal Code § 23.54.110 sets the surfacing standard for every off-street parking facility of four or more vehicles, and the definition sweeps in driveways along with parking stalls, loading areas, circulation areas, and access aisles. The hard surface must be Portland cement, asphaltic concrete, or another surface the zoning administrator approves, and the facility must be graded and drained to the satisfaction of the city engineer so surface water does not pool or run onto neighboring property. The same subsection requires the surface to stay free of weeds, dust, trash, and debris, so a driveway that reverts to dirt or gravel patches is a maintenance violation as well as a surfacing one.

Subsection B carves out three alternative pervious surfaces, grass block pavers, grasscrete, and turf stone, that count as compliant hard surfaces. It also grandfathers legally nonconforming gravel: a property that already had gravel parking spaces in place can keep using up to six of them to satisfy its minimum parking requirement, but that allowance does not let an owner add new gravel spaces or expand beyond six. The chapter layers on related requirements for the same driveway and parking area: lighting must be arranged to reflect away from adjoining residential property under subsection C, wheel-stop overhang is capped at two feet six inches under subsection D, and landscaping along the driveway under RMC § 23.54.140 must preserve a vision clearance triangle at every street intersection.

Development Services and the zoning administrator review compliance at permit issuance, and continuing violations are handled as a code enforcement matter that can reach the Code Enforcement Board under RMC Title 2.20.