Santa Fe, NM Parking Rules: Driveway Rules (2026)

6(B)(2) requires all parking spaces, driveways, and parking lot access aisles to be built on a six-inch subgrade compacted to AASHTO Standard T-180-95%, the same engineering benchmark used for public roadways. The surface layer on top of that subgrade then scales with size. A driveway or parking lot serving fewer than 40 spaces, the category that covers essentially every single-family and small multi-family driveway in the city, must have at least a four-inch gravel surface, and the lot must be graded so gravel or subsurface material does not erode into the public right-of-way or wash onto a neighbor's property.

Once a lot reaches 40 spaces or more, gravel is no longer enough: the code requires two inches of asphalt-treated material. 6(B)(5) for accessible parking, meaning any driveway or lot with spaces designated for persons with disabilities has to meet those disability-access standards on top of the surfacing rule. 6(B)(1), just above, sets the companion rule on space types, permitting standard, small-car, or 'one size fits all' designations and capping small-car spaces at 20 percent of a lot with ten or more vehicles. Because these standards sit in Article 14-8, Development and Design Standards, under Ordinance No.

2013-16, § 67, they apply citywide to new construction and lot improvements reviewed through the land use department's permitting process, not just to commercial site plans; a homeowner regrading or resurfacing a driveway is subject to the same subgrade-compaction and drainage requirements as a shopping-center parking lot.