Thousand Oaks, CA Parking Rules: Driveway Rules (2026)

2503(d) of the Thousand Oaks Municipal Code, part of the general yards standards in Article 25 of the zoning title, draws a hard line between parking and storing a vehicle at a residential dwelling. Vehicles "may be parked, but not stored," on the driveway or on another parking area the city has approved; the code bars parking anywhere else within the front yard as that area is defined by the zoning chapter. The same subsection extends the no-parking buffer to the side and rear of the lot: no vehicle may sit within three feet of a side property line or within twenty feet of a rear property line, keeping vehicles off landscaped side and rear setbacks entirely.

The code also defines "stored" precisely so residents cannot dodge the front-yard limit by claiming a vehicle is merely parked: a vehicle counts as stored once it sits in the driveway or approved parking area for more than thirty consecutive days without being operated and moved, referencing the State Vehicle Code's definition of a vehicle. Detached garages and other accessory buildings are separately barred from any required front yard under subsection (e) of the same section, reinforcing that the front setback is meant to stay open rather than filled with parked cars, sheds, or long-term vehicle storage.

This provision traces to Ordinance 636-NS (1977) and was last amended by Ordinance 1449-NS, effective November 1, 2005. It sits immediately before the front-yard depth standards of Sec. 2503(d) controls what residents may do with vehicles once inside that yard.