Richmond, CA Parking Rules: Driveway Rules (2026)

Section 12.36.100 opens with a definition and then sets a width range. A driveway is any approach leading to or from a street which passes over or upon the curbing, parking, or sidewalk area, for the purpose of a vehicular approach. What makes something a driveway under this section is the crossing. Vehicles use it to get over the curbing, the parking strip, or the sidewalk area on the way to or from the street.

The width rule is measured at a single place, the curbline. There, the driveway shall not be less than twelve feet or more than twenty feet. Richmond sets both a floor and a ceiling, so an opening narrower than twelve feet is out of range just as an opening wider than twenty feet is. Because the measuring point is the curbline, the numbers govern the opening where the driveway meets the street. The quoted text does not set a width for the portion of the driveway further onto the lot.

The ceiling has an exception and the floor does not. With the approval of the director of public works, a driveway may be constructed to a greater width. The section offers no matching approval route for a driveway narrower than twelve feet. An owner who wants an opening wider than twenty feet needs the director's approval for that width.

The next section, 12.36.110, deals with driveways that are no longer used. It lets the director of public works require an abandoned driveway to be restored. Restoration means the curb, parkway, and sidewalk are put back, and the cost falls on the owner.