RV parking rules in Richmond

Richmond RV parking at a glance

Can I keep an RV at home?

The residential outdoor-parking allowance covers no more than two recreational vehicles, campers, boats or trailers, stored only in side or rear yards. Count the equipment together. A front driveway is not automatically an allowed storage location.

What setbacks apply to an unoccupied RV?

An unoccupied RV on private property must be at least 25 feet from the front property line, inside existing building lines, and at least five feet from the side and rear property lines. It cannot occupy an easement or right-of-way. Exactly 25 feet and five feet satisfy these particular minimum distances.

Can the RV stand on grass or gravel?

Unoccupied RV storage requires an improved hard surface. General parking-surfacing rules call for asphalt, concrete or an approved equivalent; an owner should not assume ordinary grass or loose gravel qualifies. Drainage, access and maintenance rules also apply.

Can guests sleep in the RV?

The outside-RV-park occupied-use clause allows no more than seven days in any consecutive six-month period. All occupied days count, not just the current visit. No utilities may be connected. The vehicle cannot sit on or extend over a sidewalk or public property; the separate mention of lawful street parking does not waive street rules.

Can I connect water, sewer or electricity?

The occupied-use allowance expressly requires no connected utilities. This guide does not infer that an unoccupied RV may receive utility installations merely because the occupied-use clause differs. Obtain specific City confirmation for such a setup.

Do boats and utility trailers follow the same rules?

The two-vehicle and side/rear-yard clause names RVs, campers, boats and trailers together. The following setback and hard-surface clauses specifically refer to unoccupied RVs. The checker therefore preserves uncertainty about the complete boat or utility-trailer route instead of silently applying every RV condition to them. The linked RV definition includes motorhomes, truck campers, travel trailers and camping trailers. It requires sleeping or temporary-living facilities and current DOT licensing as a travel vehicle, and excludes boats and manufactured, mobile or modular homes.

What about streets, apartments or commercial lots?

Street compliance must be checked separately. Required parking areas in multifamily, nonresidential, mixed-use and public/institutional developments have a separate storage restriction and require permitted outdoor storage, parking-count protection and compliance with § 5.2.104. This home checker does not approve those locations. Loading and repair exceptions were not established in this review.

Who to contact for your setup

Confirm the exact address, parcel approvals and any later amendments with Richmond planning or code enforcement before relying on an exception. Private HOA restrictions can also apply.

Use the Richmond parking checker to organize the starting conditions. The checker cannot approve a parcel, a variance or an unverified exception.

Official sources reviewed October 23, 2026

• Richmond UDC § 4.2.102 — residential parking and required parking

  Current publisher document retrieved October 23, 2026. Division includes April 20, 2026 amendment; this section displays a placeholder January 1, 1901 effective date, not a verified adoption date.

• Richmond UDC definition — Recreational Vehicle (RV)

  Current linked definition includes truck campers and travel trailers; sleeping/living facilities and current DOT travel-vehicle licensing required. Effective July 16, 2018, retrieved October 23, 2026.

A review date records when we checked these sources. The notes above explain any use of older code editions or limits on access to the full source; an address-specific city determination may still be required. Read our research method.