Wausau, WI Parking Rules: Driveway Rules (2026)

06, sets two separate rules that together define where a vehicle can sit on a residential lot. The locational rule in subsection (11)(a) says that on a lot with a single-family or two-family dwelling, off-street parking cannot be located between the principal structure and the street right-of-way, with the sole exception of a residential driveway that leads to a legal parking space. The design rule for individually served residential lots in subsection (14)(c) restates the same limit from a different angle: except for driveways leading to legal parking spaces, parking is not permitted in the front yard at all.

Together the two subsections rule out parking directly on a front lawn, on gravel or grass beside a driveway, or anywhere else between a house and the street that is not the driveway surface itself. Once a vehicle is on the driveway, the surface itself has to meet a construction standard: subsection (20)(a) requires that all driveways and parking areas be graded so they are dust-free and properly drained, and paved with a minimum of three inches of asphaltic concrete or concrete over at least four inches of aggregate base, to the satisfaction of the City's Department of Public Works.

06(13)(a)(3) allows up to 365 days after a building permit is issued before the paved surface is required, so long as a four-inch aggregate base keeps the area dust-free in the meantime.