Council introduces ordinance to require hard-surface residential driveways

Macedonia City Council offered Ordinance 51-2025 for a second reading by title to amend portions of the city’s codified ordinances dealing with new residential driveways and parking areas. The draft would require replacement residential driveways and parking areas to be hard-surface materials such as concrete or asphalt rather than gravel. Director Gudetti summarized the proposal and said it parallels an existing commercial standard the city already enforces.Why it matters: The change would prevent new or replacement gravel driveways and limit incremental widening of gravel parking areas, addressing resident complaints about maintenance and encroachment. Council discussed how repair thresholds apply: the building department indicated the city’s repair standard requires full replacement when repairs exceed roughly 40 percent of a driveway; repairs under that threshold are treated as maintenance. Council members agreed the measure should not apply retroactively to existing driveways but would apply when a property owner undertakes replacement beyond the city’s repair threshold. The item will be referred to the planning commission for review because it affects zoning and site standards. No final vote was taken at council; the ordinance was presented for second reading by title.