Sedona, AZ Accessory Structures: Tiny Homes (2026)
Tiny home rules in Sedona, AZ, covering tiny houses on wheels (THOWs), park model RVs, and tiny home on foundation builds, determine where they are legal and how they get permitted.
Key Facts
- Tiny homes on wheels
- Not allowed as ADUs
- Also excluded
- Mobile/manufactured homes, trailers, RVs
- Legit ADU
- Must meet adopted IRC, be permanent
- RV storage
- Allowed as storage, not as housing
Summary
Sedona's zoning code will not let a park model or tiny home on wheels count as an accessory dwelling unit. SLDC Section 3.4.D(3)(b) excludes mobile and manufactured homes, park models and tiny homes on wheels, travel trailers, and recreational vehicles from ADU use anywhere in the city.
Mobile and manufactured homes, park models/tiny homes on wheels, travel trailers, and recreational vehicles shall not be used as ADUs.
Official source re-checked September 8, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: current through Initiative Ordinance 2026-01, approved by voters at the July 21, 2026 election).
Full Breakdown
Sedona's Land Development Code closes off a common workaround for adding a second living space cheaply: a tiny home on wheels, park model, mobile or manufactured home, travel trailer, or recreational vehicle cannot be used as an accessory dwelling unit anywhere in the city. D(3)(b) names all five categories together, so the exclusion covers everything from a factory-built tiny house on a trailer chassis to a full-size RV parked in a backyard and hooked up as a rental unit. D(3). A unit built on wheels cannot meet those permanence and building-code requirements, which is the functional reason the code excludes it outright rather than subjecting it to a review process.
D(5), which allow parking such vehicles under screening and repair conditions but still forbid using them for occupancy except in an approved recreational vehicle park. Anyone wanting extra living space on a Sedona residential lot has to build a code-compliant ADU or addition; a manufactured, mobile or wheeled tiny structure is not a permitted substitute, even temporarily.
Violations & Fines
Placing a park model, tiny home on wheels, mobile home, travel trailer or RV on a lot and using it as a dwelling unit is a code violation under SLDC Section 1.7. The City can prosecute it as a Class 1 misdemeanor or issue a civil citation to Sedona Magistrate Court, and because an unauthorized use is deemed a public nuisance per se, the City can also seek a court order requiring the unit's removal or vacancy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I live in a tiny house on wheels in my Sedona backyard?
Why can't a manufactured or mobile home count as an ADU in Sedona?
Can I keep an RV on my property if I'm not living in it?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Sedona
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