Ames, IA Parking Rules: Street Parking Limits (2026)

Ames Municipal Code Sec. 18.10 governs how a vehicle must sit once parked at a curb. Where a curb exists, the vehicle's curb-side wheels must be parallel with and within 18 inches of the curb, and vehicles must be spaced at least 4 feet apart end to end; on streets without curbs, vehicles must park parallel to the center line with no part closer than 12 feet to it. Sec. 18.10(1)(c) additionally requires every parked vehicle to face the same direction as traffic lawfully travels in the adjacent lane, the city's wrong-way parking prohibition.

Separately, Sec. 18.17 lists roadway positions where stopping, standing or parking is barred outright regardless of signage, including obstructing a sidewalk (with a narrow overhang exception for angle parking under Sec. 18.10(2)(a)) and stopping in front of or so as to obstruct any public or private driveway. Both sections sit in the same chapter enforced by the Ames Police Department, which issues a notice of violation and fine placed directly on the windshield of the offending vehicle under Sec. 18.7; the general parking fine for violations outside the overtime-meter and disability-parking categories is $20.00, reduced by $5.00 if paid within seven days of the violation, with fines unpaid after 30 days deemed contested.