Single family homes do not have to repave gravel driveways in Rockford

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — A decades-old rule in Rockford about allowing gravel driveways has officially been reworked.

At City Council on Monday, aldermen voted to re-word the ordinance which would have required homeowners to repave gravel driveways in an effort to mitigate flooding issues.

The requirement, authored in 1973 with an original compliance date of November 1st, 2024, was never heavily enforced.

The city voted to remove the deadline and ease the financial burden on single family homeowners.

“One of the important things to recognize is that those people who never had their driveways put in prior to this rule, we didn’t want to impact them so negatively, and make it so that they had to spend $10,000 to $15,000 of their income or retirement fund just to put in a driveway,” explained Ald. Bill Rose (9th Ward).

Apartment buildings and businesses must still repave their gravel driveways to be in compliance with the ordinance.

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