Starting in July, Hampton residents won’t be able to park on their front yards. The city is paying to help install driveways.

HAMPTON — Hampton has a message to homeowners: Get your cars off of your lawns.

Beginning July 1, people will no longer be allowed to park on their front yards if street parking is available. To help with the transition, the city is offering grants to help eligible residents pay for a new driveway.

The City Council voted in December to change the rules because of residents who complained that yards full of cars were unsightly and lowered property values.

“To tell me I cannot park in my own yard that I pay taxes on, seems to me (an injustice),” Hampton resident Ketra Honeycutt told the council at their December meeting.

While no one is required to install a driveway, the city wants to offer assistance to individuals and families to offset the cost for those who choose to add one. The lawn parking ban also applies to side yards for homes on corner lots.

The ordinance does not apply to residents in areas where street parking isn’t available. It also still allows people to temporarily park on their lawn in the case of flooding or street sweeping. People can also park in the grass while washing their vehicle and while loading or unloading it.

Anyone can apply for the grant funds, but individuals and families at or below the area median income — about $65,450 for a single-person home or $93,500 for a four-person home — will be first in line.

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Not everyone who applies for the grant is guaranteed to receive the money, so the city advises not to have any work done before your application is approved. Homeowners will need to provide proof of payment for the driveway in order to be reimbursed.

The maximum grant available is $2,250, which is based on the estimated cost of a gravel ribbon driveway, which is less expensive than a fully paved driveway. Ribbon driveways have unpaved space between two parallel strips of gravel.

The council first heard the proposal for the front-lawn parking ban about two years ago but decided to wait because of the pandemic.

The ordinance was controversial, with about a dozen people speaking before the City Council asking members to vote against the rule. Three council members — Billy Hobbs, Chris Snead and Steven Brown — did.

Hampton is not the first city in the region to regulate parking on lawns. Suffolk, Norfolk and Williamsburg also have rules in place that limit parking in yards.

The application for grant funds is available online at form.jotform.com/221164534881052.

Jessica Nolte, 757-912-1675, jnolte@dailypress.com