San Antonio, TX Parking Rules: Driveway Rules (2026)

Subsection (d) of City Code Sec. 19-194 sets the surface standard for any parking pad used to keep a motor vehicle, watercraft, camper, or trailer in the front or side yard of a home in San Antonio's residential zoning districts. The pad must run in a contiguous course from the curb, street, or alley, and every wheel of the parked vehicle must sit on gravel confined by barriers or permanent curbing, concrete, brick, or asphalt; parking directly on bare dirt or grass, even temporarily, is not a permitted alternative.

Subsection (e) then limits how wide that pad may be: it cannot exceed fifty percent of the average width of the lot. The code carves out four exceptions to the width cap. First, if the residential building does not meet the minimum setback requirements set out in chapter 35, the fifty-percent limit does not apply. Second, lots twenty-five feet wide or less are exempt. Third, lots abutting a curbless street, or a street less than thirty feet wide, are exempt. Fourth, if the applicable zoning district sets its own maximum width for such areas, that zoning-specific figure controls instead.

Recreational vehicles may also be parked under the trip-preparation allowance of Sec. 35-385 without triggering these surface and width rules. The Police Department and Code Compliance Department share enforcement authority under subsection (f), and subsection (g) makes registered ownership prima facie evidence that the owner parked the vehicle as charged, subject to rebuttal. Because chapter 35, the Unified Development Code, is referenced repeatedly for terms like setback and restricted parking area, owners near a nonconforming setback should confirm their district's standards with Development Services before pouring a pad.