Kent County, DE Parking Rules: Driveway Rules (2026)

Chapter 171, Parking, adopted by the Levy Court on September 24, 2024, sets the county's design standards for parking, loading and driveway areas. Section 171-2.D requires that all parking areas, loading areas and driveways be graded and drained to dispose of surface water accumulation and improved with a durable dust-free surface considered appropriate by the Department of Planning Services. The same subsection requires any collected drainage to receive appropriate treatment so that water released to surface waters complies with DNREC Surface Water Quality Standards, tying the driveway surface requirement directly to stormwater quality, not just dust control.

Section 171-2.E adds an ongoing maintenance duty: the property owner and occupant must keep off-street parking areas in a clean, orderly, dust-free condition, and may not use them for the sale, repair, dismantling or servicing of vehicles, equipment, materials or supplies. Elsewhere in the same chapter, § 171-4.A sets minimum dimensions once a surface is installed, at least nine feet by 18 feet per parking space, and § 171-4.C requires two-way drive aisles at least 24 feet wide.

Chapter 171 does not name a single approved paving material; unlike the county's mini-storage standard in § 205-71.H(8), which specifically allows hard, compacted, dust-free surfaces or paving with concrete, asphalt or asphaltic concrete, the general parking chapter leaves the Department of Planning Services to judge whether a given surface qualifies as durable and dust-free. Any request for relief from the chapter's requirements goes to the Board of Adjustment under § 171-9, evaluated by the same criteria used for a Chapter 205 zoning variance.