Texas City, TX Parking Rules: Driveway Rules (2026)

Section 72.13 of the Texas City Code of Ordinances governs parking in residential districts, which it defines to include residential uses and all residential areas. It was adopted as Ord. 13-08, passed 5-1-2013.

Section 72.13(A) says no vehicle, as defined by Tex. Transportation Code Ch. 541, Subch. C, § 541.201, shall be parked or stored between the residential structure and the street frontage, unless parked on an improved driveway. The code then defines the surface. An existing improved driveway surface is one made of concrete, asphalt, pavers, or other material approved by the City's Building Official, that forms a continual surface sufficient to support the entire width, length and weight of the vehicle. Improved driveways must originate at the public roadway and form a continual surface. Parking surfaces added to an existing improved driveway surface in the front or side yard must be connected and/or attached to the original improved surface, so a separate gravel or dirt pad beside the driveway does not qualify.

Section 72.13(B) closes the gap in plain terms: parking off the improved driveway in the front yard area is prohibited. The front yard area is the area between the residential structure and the street, and the code says it includes the side yard of corner and irregular shaped lots. Corner-lot owners therefore cannot treat the street-facing side yard as free parking space.

The Building Official's approval of other materials is the one discretionary step in the section, so a homeowner planning a surface other than concrete, asphalt or pavers should have the material approved by the City's Building Official before relying on it.

Section 72.13 sits in Chapter 72 and is enforced like the other parking rules. Under § 72.02, a vehicle parked in violation of the traffic code or a city ordinance can be removed by or upon order of the Chief of Police. If the vehicle is parked immediately in front of or adjacent to property owned or rented by its owner, the owner must be given reasonable notice to remove it before it is taken. Section 72.01 gives prosecutors a prima facie presumption that the registered owner parked the vehicle.