A driveway is the portion of the street, alley or private property which provides access to, an off-street parking facility using a curb cut. Portions of the driveway that are in line and adjacent to sidewalk are defined as a sidewalk.

Standard Plan 430: Type 430 Driveway
Standard Plan 431: Concrete Driveway Placed with Sidewalk Construction

Curb cut and driveway widths: specified in the Land Use Code as follows:

• Overall requirements:
  - SMC 23.54  Parking Space Standards
  - SMC 23.53  Access Easement Standards
• Variations to standards:
  - SMC 23.44  Single Family Parking Location and Access
  - SMC 23.45  Lowrise Parking and Access
  - SMC 23.45  Midrise Parking and Access

Driveway on private property: the portion of the driveway on private property shall meet the requirements specified in the Land Use Code (refer to references above).

Driveways: Driveways shall be installed per the standard plans.  The public sidewalk will have the right-of-way over private crossings.  Driveways will be designed to meet ADA requirements for an accessible route.

Vertical curves:  In accordance with the land use code, appropriate crest and sag curves must be accommodated in the driveway design.  The vertical curves and grade breaks shall begin at the property line, not in the right-of-way.

Driveway elevations at the property line shall meet the elevations shown on the Building Grade Sheet and meet the Land Use Code driveway slope and vertical curve requirements. The driveway shall be designed so that any changes in driveway slope that may be needed as a result of future grading in the right-of-way will comply with driveway requirements specified in the Land Use Code.

Driveway Slope: The standards for the driveway slope are located in SMC 23.54.030. 

Parking Space Standards:  Refer to SMC 23.54.030 Parking Space Standards
Figure 4-14: Driveway Slope
Figure 4-15: Maximum Grade Curvatures for Driveways: Crest Vertical Curve Figure
Figure 4-15: Maximum Grade Curvatures for Driveways: Sag Vertical Curve

Driveway edges: When requested, the following elevations at the driveway edges and centerline shall appear on both Building Permit and Street Use Permit plans:

• centerline of street;
• gutter line;
• top of driveway approach;
• back of sidewalk;
• property line;
• garage floor;
• driveway slope; and

In addition distance from property line to garage floor elevation shall be shown.

• Driveways should be placed sufficiently far from crosswalks to provide enough sight distance into the crosswalk so that drivers can see pedestrians approaching within the crosswalk and so that vehicles do not block the crosswalk when exiting a driveway.