Frequently Asked Questions

• May not exceed four-feet in height in the front and side yards
• May not exceed seven-feet in height in the back yard
• Decorative side must face the adjoining neighbor’s property

• Alcohol licensing
• Business
• Day care inspections
• Residential Housing Rental Inspections
• School

Driver’s licenses are issued in the Buena Vista County Treasurer’s Office, which is located on the first floor of the Buena Vista County Courthouse at 215 East Fifth Street, in Storm Lake.

For more information, contact the Buena Vista County Treasurer’s Office at (712) 749-2571.

Storm Lake United is the active agency promoting Storm Lake and Buena Vista County as well as working toward the development of new business and industry within the community. Their offices are located at 110 West 6th Street in Storm Lake.

For more information, feel free to call Storm Lake United at (712) 732-3780.

Property owners who have a lien against their property can take care of the lien through the Buena Vista County Treasurer's Office from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM, located at the Buena Vista County Courthouse: 215 E. Fifth St. Storm Lake, IA 50588

You can also call the Buena Vista County Treasurer's Office at (712) 749-2534.

The City offers a competitive benefit package for our employees. Benefits vary depending on if the position is full-time or part-time. Some benefits include:

• Dental Insurance
• Employer-matched contributions to IPERS and/or MFPRSI (411) 
• Health Insurance
• Paid Vacation
• Paid Sick Leave
• 10 Paid Holidays 

For more detailed information refer to the Employee Benefits Explanation.

Employee are paid Biweekly

Volunteer firefighters are paid for their calls and training in December.

• Broken water pipe or obvious leak - check the pipes in the basement
• Company visiting
• Kids being at home for summer vacation or school holidays
• Leaking toilet or a toilet that continues to run after being flushed - check for a leaking toilet
• Letting the water run to avoid freezing water pipes during cold weather
• Water-cooled air conditioners
• Water softener problems (cycles continuously)
• Watering the lawn, new grass, or trees

Convenient bill-payment locations in Storm Lake include:

• Drop box in the City Hall parking lot or pay inside City Hall at: 620 Erie St. P.O. Box 1086 Storm Lake, IA 50588

The City also offers online payment on the following link: www.stormlake.org/payonline

To add your Utility Billing account, you will need your account number (listed on the very top right portion of your bill (example: 12-34567-890,) as well as your last payment amount (we are currently looking at additional methods for account verification.) This will complete your registration and you will only need your login information in the future.

The City does not allow regular payments on account to be made with your deposit. However, you may elect to use your deposit to pay your final bill provided you are not moving to another rental unit in Storm Lake where you will have utility services in your name.

The Storm Lake Parks system is a great place to honor the life of a loved one. You can do so through a donation to the system.

For more information please call the city clerk's office at (712) 732-8000 or email  cityclerk@stormlake.org.

The department has an authorized strength of 21 sworn officers.  Assignment opportunities include: 

• Patrol Division
• Investigation Division
• School Resources Officer
• Narcotics Unit
• K-9 Unit
• Clandestine Lab Team 
• Tactical Entry Team
• Drone Pilots
• Search and Recovery Dive Team
• Hostage Negotiation Team
• Sexual Assault Response Team
• Bike Patrol 

Depending on the time of day, the amount of officers on patrol during normal operating conditions is 3 to 4 (excluding detectives and administration). 

The Storm Lake Police Department has officers that speak Spanish, Hmong and Vietnamese. 

• Community service officers (2)
• Fire fighters (33)
• Office staff (3)
• Police dog (1)
• Police officers (19)
• Seasonal park rangers (2)
• University work study students (1-2)
• Volunteer medic (1)
• Volunteer office staff (1)

The City of Storm Lake has a tree trimming program for trees that are on City right-of-way. The right-of-way is the property between the street and the sidewalk. The city trims and removes trees during the winter months and rotates through the community on a three year schedule to ensure proper maintenance of all trees in the public right-of-way. The City will handle trees and limbs that are determined to be a hazard to personal property and injury outside of the schedule. For more information please contact the Public Service Assistant at (712) 732-8029. If you have a tree or branch that is dangerous you may contact the City at 712-732-8000 or fill out an online Tree Trimming Request FormThe City does not remove or trim trees on private property.

The City’s snow plow drivers work diligently to avoid hitting mailboxes during the snow removal season. If you believe that your mailbox has been damaged by a City snow plow, you may contact the Public Service Department by phone at 712-732-8029, by email at publicservices@stormlake.org. Upon receiving notice of a damaged mailbox the City will investigate the cause of the damage and if the cause of the damage is found to be a directly from a snow plow (not damage caused by rolling or plowed snow) then the City will make reimbursement for the mailbox that was damaged with a similar mailbox.

The City Public ServiceDepartment removes stumps from trees cut down by the City of Storm Lake within the Right of Way. The City will come out and remove the stump, refill the area with soil, and then scatter grass seed in the location. To report a stump needing removal within the ROW, please contact the Public Service Department by phone at 712-732-8029 or by email at publicservices@stormlake.org.

The City does not allow regular payments on account to be made with your deposit. However, you may elect to use your deposit to pay your final bill provided you are not moving to another rental unit in Storm Lake where you will have utility services in your name.

All cars that are towed for violation of no parking regulations during a Snow Emergency will be towed by Storm Lake Towing. In order to retrieve your vehicle call 712-732-6020 during normal business hours to pay fees before getting your vehicle back.

During declared snow emergencies residents who live downtown can park their cars overnight in two downtown parking lots (Lots A and C). Lot A is located at the corner of Geneseo and W 6th Street.  Lot C is located on Erie Street across from Valentina's Meat Market and behind the Connell Law Office. Parking in any other downtown public parking lot will result in your vehicle being towed during a snow emergency.

There are several ways to find out when snow emergency has been declared by the City of Storm Lake. The City maintains a 24 hour hotline that contains the current status of a snow emergency in both English and Spanish at 712-213-SNOW (7669). You can also check the current status online by going to the City's Snow Emergency webpage at www.213snow.com. Finally you can sign up for instant notifications through Wireless Emergency Notification System (WENS)

We wish we had enough snowplows and drivers to take care of every street right away, but our resources are limited and so we must adhere to a carefully laid out system for clearing the streets. If we allowed our plows to be diverted each time a special request was made, our system would be destroyed and it would take far longer to get all the streets in the city cleared. To keep our snow removal operations as effective and efficient as possible, plows are not permitted to deviate from their assigned routes. Arterial streets have first priority for snow plowing. The remainder of the streets is then plowed after the snow subsides.

There are approximately 3,000+ driveways in the city. If we used all of our plows and spent just 60 seconds per driveway, it would take several days to clean driveways alone. One thing you can do to minimize the problem is to pile snow that has been shoveled from the driveway on the downstream side of the driveway. Then if the snowplow hits the pile, it will be moved onto the grass or sidewalk, not back into your driveway. The Streets Division crews do not come back and plow out any driveways.

Streets and alleys in the central business district are treated differently from other snow and ice control operations because snow storage within the street and alley rights-of-way are not desirable. Snow plowing procedures are utilized only to the extent that storage of snow along the traveled portion of the roadway will not inhibit vehicle movement in and out of parking stalls.

When snow removal operations begin, streets and alleys in and near the central business area are sanded and salted, if deemed necessary. Snow will be hauled from the area after the clearing operations are completed. Snow hauling operations normally commence during night-time hours only when the storm has subsided will daytime plowing be considered. Daytime plowing is hazardous to the public and public services employees.

Under ideal circumstances, we can predict fairly accurately when we will have streets in various sections of the City plowed. As weather conditions change we often must alter our snow-fighting strategy in the midst of the snow removal operations in order to control drifting snow, ice or other special problems. We cannot give you an estimate of when your street will be cleared due to ever-changing weather conditions.

As we plow from curb to curb to provide for safe vehicular flow and mail delivery, snow may inadvertently fall onto the sidewalk. Unfortunately, there are a number of locations in the city where the park area is very narrow and the plowed snow covers the sidewalks. Some have suggested that the plows should go through these areas at a slower speed so the snow will not be thrown onto the sidewalks. However, the plows must maintain a certain speed in order to keep the snow from sticking onto the blades of the plow.

The potential for a medical emergency does not warrant priority treatment. Anyone needing an ambulance in a medical emergency should contact the Communications Center where all necessary steps will be coordinated.

The Central Business District is signed for no parking between 2a.m. and 6 a.m. during a snow emergency and 10p.m. through 6a.m. in the residential areas. Any vehicles remaining on the streets during the snow emergency will be towed. Vehicles may be ticketed more frequently during winter months to ensure that plows are able to plow streets adequately. Anyone leaving town for an extended time (holidays, Spring break) should find suitable off-street parking to avoid ticketing and towing.

Our telephone lines are understandably jammed during severe weather conditions. We advise limiting your travel, or staying off the roads entirely if possible. Listen to television and radio bulletins about road conditions. Remember that we can only provide information about streets within the city limits. Our phone lines should be used primarily to alert us if a street has been missed or if there is some special problem relating to the snow removal operations.

resources are limited and so we must adhere to a carefully laid out system for clearing the streets. If we allowed our plows to be diverted each time a special request was made, our system would be destroyed and it would take far longer to get all the streets in the city cleared. To keep our snow removal operations as effective and efficient as possible, plows are not permitted to deviate from their assigned routes. Arterial streets have first priority for snow plowing. The remainder of the streets are then plowed after the snow subsides.  The city has designated an emergency snow route where the primary design of the route is located so streets are within a 3-4 block distance to the emergency snow route

The Storm Lake Municipal Band is always looking for new members who enjoy sharing their musical talents with the Storm Lake community and the visiting public. Persons interested in joining the Municipal Band may contact the Storm Lake Human Resources Department by email (humanresources@stormlake.org) or by phone at 712-732-8000 and staff will forward the contact information to the Band Director.

Discs can be purchased at many sporting goods stores and sports stores. 

Article 3 of the Zoning Ordinance defines several different   use types. If a use type is unknown, the Zoning Administrator has the authority to determine the appropriate use type.

Article 4 Table 4-1 contains explanations for every zoning district within the City of Stom Lake 

City City of Storm Lake Zoning Map can be found online at www.stormlake.org/zoning

Article 4 Table 4-2 of the Zoning Ordinance; this table indicates permitted uses with a "P", conditional uses with a "C", and anything blank is not a permitted use.

If you know the zoning designation of your property you can look at the site regulations in Article 4 Tables 4-3a & 4-3b.

Site development regulations for accessory buildings can be found with Article 7 Section 702(a)(6).

Fence regulations are regulated per Article 7 Section 705.

Article 8 deals with all landscaping and screening requirements.

Article 9 deals with off-street parking requirements and Table 9-1 regulates the minimum off-street parking required for a use type.

All Sign Regulations can be found within Article 10.