Published
Two spaces, drained, within a hundred feet: the county's parking rule for a cabin
The number is two, and they have to be close
Fremont County's parking standard is short and almost nobody building a cabin has read it, because it looks like a rule for shopping centres. Most of it is. But its first table starts with dwellings, and the row is simple: two off-street parking spaces per unit.
The part that bites on a cabin lot is not the count but the distance. Required spaces for a dwelling must be within 100 feet of the unit they serve. Every other use gets 600 feet. On a steep or wooded lot where the natural place to stop the car is at the road and the cabin is up a path, that 100-foot rule is the one that moves the building or moves the parking.
“Required off-street parking spaces shall be within 600 feet of a main entrance of the building or use being served, except for spaces serving a dwelling unit, which shall be within 100 feet of the unit served.”
— Fremont County Development Code, 2011 Edition (Ordinance 2011-04), Appendix C section 1.05. Consolidated through Ordinance 2026-03. Table C.1 re-extracted from the county's live PDF 1 September 2026
What a parking space has to be here
| Requirement | The rule | On a cabin lot |
|---|---|---|
| How many | Two per dwelling unit (Table C.1) | A cabin with a separate guest unit is two units, and four spaces |
| Surface | Graded and drained gravel, or paved | Native dirt does not qualify; drainage is the word that matters at snowmelt |
| Where | Within 100 feet of the unit, on the same lot and under the same ownership | Parking on the neighbour's lot or on the road does not count |
| Sharing | Only where a contract for ten years or more is executed before the permit and recorded before the certificate of compliance | A handshake with the lot next door is not a parking plan the county will accept |
| Unlisted uses | The Administrator decides, and the decision can be appealed | A bunkhouse, a shop with a business in it, or a caretaker unit gets a ruling rather than a table row |
The surface rule is the one worth reading twice. The standard does not require pavement, and on most cabin lots gravel is the right answer. It does require the gravel to be graded and drained, which is a real specification in a place where the snowpack melts in April onto ground that is still frozen underneath it.
The driveway rules that apply to a house
Section 1.09 sets how a parking area is reached, and three of its clauses apply to a single-family dwelling directly:
- The access driveway must be at least ten feet wide, with a curb radius of five feet where it meets the road.
- No access driveway may approach a public road at a grade steeper than twelve percent. On a rim lot that number decides where the drive can leave the road.
- On a local road, the driveway may not be within 20 feet of an intersection or alley, or within 10 feet of another access point, measured from the junction of the corner lot lines.
- A clear vision triangle is required at every access driveway, as described in the road standards — and inside it nothing may stand over three feet.
One clause is written in the owner's favour. Section 1.09.010 bars any parking area from being designed so that vehicles must back onto a public road, except those serving single family dwellings. A commercial lot needs a turnaround. A cabin does not, at least as far as the county is concerned. Whether backing a trailer onto a snow-packed road in January is wise is a different question.
The approach itself, where the driveway meets the county road, has its own standard in a different appendix: an angle, a sight distance, an apron width and a culvert. The excavation site has written that standard up with the figures. This page stops at the property line.
What the table says about rentals, and why this page does not repeat it
Table C.1 carries lodging rows, and one of them sets a ratio per advertised occupant for transient rental. That row belongs to the county's transient-rental permit scheme, which was written before the state changed the law. Idaho now bars the county from requiring any short-term rental permit, and what the county may still require of a rental is a narrower question than the table suggests. For a cabin that will be rented, the honest parking rule today is the one that decides whether guests park on your lot or on the neighbours' verge, and that is the covenants' rule, not the county's.
Reading the lot for parking before you design
- Find the two spaces first, within 100 feet of where the cabin will stand, on your own ground. If the lot cannot give you that, the cabin moves, not the rule.
- Check the grade where the drive leaves the road. Twelve percent is roughly one foot of rise in eight; a rim lot can exceed it at the obvious entry point and be fine fifty feet along.
- Walk the sight triangle at the mouth of the drive and look for trees, because they are the thing most often already in it.
- Plan drainage for the gravel, not just the gravel. Where the melt goes in April is the whole specification.
- Read the covenants for parking before the county's rule, since most Island Park cabin ground sits inside a plat, and plats routinely bar trailers and boats from view.
Parking is the least glamorous drawing in the set, and on a small treed lot it is the one that fixes where everything else can go. The site plan the county reviews shows it, and the county's own rule is two spaces, drained, within a hundred feet.
Common questions
How many parking spaces does a cabin need in Fremont County?
Two off-street spaces per dwelling unit, under Table C.1 of the county's parking standard. A cabin with a separate guest unit is two units and needs four.
How close to the cabin do the parking spaces have to be?
Within 100 feet of the dwelling unit they serve. Every other kind of use is allowed 600 feet from a main entrance; dwellings get the shorter distance.
Does the parking have to be paved?
No. The standard requires graded and drained gravel or a paved surface. Gravel is acceptable and usual on cabin lots, but it has to be graded and drained rather than simply spread.
Can my parking be on the road or on a neighbour's lot?
No. Required spaces must be on the same lot and under the same ownership as the dwelling they serve. Sharing is allowed only under a contract of ten years or more, executed before the permit and recorded before the certificate of compliance.
How wide does a cabin driveway have to be?
At least ten feet, with a five-foot curb radius where it meets the road. Driveways for other uses must be designed for the level of use expected.
How steep can the driveway be where it meets the road?
No access driveway may approach a public road at a grade of more than twelve percent. On sloping lots that ceiling often decides where the drive can leave the road.
Do I need a turnaround so I do not back onto the road?
Not for a single-family dwelling. The county bars parking areas that force vehicles to back onto a public road, but it exempts parking that serves single family dwellings from that rule.
How far from an intersection must the driveway be?
On a local road, at least 20 feet from any intersection or alley and at least 10 feet from another access point, measured from the junction of the corner lot lines to the nearest side of the driveway.
What about parking for a cabin I rent out?
The county's table carries a per-occupant ratio for transient rental, but it belongs to a permit scheme written before Idaho barred counties from requiring short-term rental permits. In practice the binding parking rule for a rental is in the subdivision's covenants.
Who decides parking for a use the table does not list?
The Planning and Building Administrator classifies the use and sets the requirement, and anyone who disputes that decision may request a review through the county's appeal procedure.