Can You Legally Park On Your Own Yard In Iowa?

Finding a spot to park in front of your Iowa home shouldn't be that hard. There aren't that many people that live here and the biggest city is Des Moines. Unless you live in literally the busiest part of your Iowa town and in an apartment complex, you shouldn't be parking in your yard.

But plenty of people do.

In Iowa, especially Davenport, I continue to see cars parked on front lawns or on the "devil strip" piece of grass between the street and the sidewalk all the time. It seems illegal and feels illegal. So, I looked some stuff up, did some digging, and found the answer most of these people don't want to hear.

Parking Your Car In Iowa

For as many places there are to park your car in Iowa, there are almost the same amount of places you can't park.

Iowa law says you can't park in spots designated for disabled people who have a tag, no parking zones, on sidewalks, in front of driveways or mailboxes, on crosswalks, not along snow emergency routes, and the list goes on. And those are plenty of "duh" places to not park, right? Right.

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But if it's your driveway and you don't want people to park in your driveway during a party so you block it with your car, that's cool, right? I do it a couple of times in the summer but it still makes me nervous. You probably won't get a ticket for it since it's temporary, but I wouldn't park there on the regular.

You Can't Park Your Own Car On Your Lawn In Iowa

The reason I started looking this up is thanks to the folks with Davenport Public Works. They put up a social media post talking about the complaints they get from people parking in their own yards.

The social media post said, "We receive several complaints each year regarding the issue, neighborhood degradation, and the hazardous obstacles improper parking presents. To avoid a ticket, park only where parking is intended."

It appears to be illegal to park your car on your lawn in Davenport, but is it in the entire state of Iowa? The social media post is correct when it says it's illegal in Davenport under vehicle code 10.64.020.

When reading the Iowa vehicle code, it gets a little deceptive. Chapter 101.9(5) says,

"Vehicles shall not be parked on curbs, on grass or in any area not intended for vehicle parking."

But this isn't in reference to parking on the grass on your lawn. It's talking about the grass at the Iowa Capitol building.

No matter what your opinion is, it's tacky as all could be to park on your grass. You'll kill it, make your neighborhood look awful, and no one will like you.