Ordinance may limit front-yard parking

Suburban and rural Spokane County residents will be able to fill up only half of their front yards with cars under an ordinance scheduled for final action Tuesday by county commissioners.

The ordinance will take effect immediately if confirmed by commissioners, who gave oral approval on May 8.

Parking in residential zones would be limited to half the width of front yards or 40 feet, whichever is less.

All such parking would have to be on a paved surface, although exceptions may be granted for use of gravel to expand parking at existing houses or to park cleated tractors and other heavy equipment.

County commissioners unanimously endorsed the proposal at their May 8 meeting.

The measure had the unanimous recommendation of planning commissioners, who received no testimony at a March 22 public hearing.

Code enforcement officers in the county’s Department of Planning and Building had proposed the ordinance in response to complaints about neighborhood eyesores.

It applies to houses and duplexes in the “low-density residential,” “low-density residential plus,” “medium-density residential” and “high-density residential” zones.

Parking areas may not encroach into grassy swales, ditches or storm-water easements without written permission from the county engineer.

The ordinance applies only in unincorporated areas of the county.