4 county-level rules, plus city-specific rules for 1 city in Sonoma County, California.
Verified from official government sources
In unincorporated Sonoma County, recreational vehicles and boats are treated under the Sonoma County Zoning Code (Chapter 26) and Chapter 18 (Motor Vehicles and Traffic). Personal RVs, trailers, and boats may be stored on a private residential parcel as a customary accessory use, but they cannot be occupied as a dwelling on residential land except under narrow exceptions in Sec. 26-88-066 (use of an RV by an ill, convalescent, or otherwise disabled friend or relative needing care from the property occupant) or on parcels with a KR/RV Combining District designation governed by Article 42 of Chapter 26. On-street parking in unincorporated areas is subject to the California Vehicle Code 72-hour rule (CVC Sec. 22651(k)) and Sonoma County's parallel parking limitations - an RV, trailer, or boat left on a public right-of-way for more than 72 hours without being moved is subject to citation and removal. Commercial RV storage yards, marinas, and dry-stack boat storage are land uses that require their own zoning approval (typically a use permit) and are not permitted as-of-right on residential lots. Park-model and travel-trailer occupancy as full-time housing is restricted to permitted mobile home parks, RV parks with the KR/RV combining designation, or properties operating under an approved temporary-use permit (often issued during post-fire rebuilding under Permit Sonoma's Rebuild program established after the 2017 Tubbs, 2019 Kincade, and 2020 Glass fires).
Sonoma County regulates driveways and off-street parking through three connected sources: Article 86 of Chapter 26 (Parking Regulations) of the Zoning Code, which establishes required off-street parking counts and design standards for new development; Chapter 11 (Roads, Streets, Bridges, and Sidewalks) of the County Code and the related encroachment-permit rules administered by Sonoma County Public Infrastructure / Transportation and Public Works, which govern any driveway connection to a county-maintained road; and the California Fire Code as adopted in Chapter 13 of the County Code, which sets driveway width, grade, surfacing, and turnaround standards for fire-apparatus access in the wildland-urban interface. New single-family dwellings must provide at least two off-street parking spaces (Sec. 26-86-010); ADUs generally require one space per unit but are exempt from that requirement in many circumstances under state law and Sec. 26-88-060. Driveways accessing county-maintained roads require an encroachment permit from Sonoma County Public Infrastructure under Chapter 11. Driveways serving parcels in CAL FIRE State Responsibility Areas or Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones must meet Public Resources Code Sec. 4290 and California Fire Code Chapter 5 standards - minimum 20-foot unobstructed width for two-way access, 14-foot vertical clearance, all-weather surfacing supporting fire-apparatus loads, slopes generally not exceeding 16%, and turnarounds at the end of dead-end driveways longer than 150 feet. Parking on lawns or front yards may be restricted under Article 88 design standards depending on zone.
Sonoma County addresses commercial-vehicle parking through Chapter 18 (Motor Vehicles and Traffic) of the County Code, Article 86 (Parking Regulations) of Chapter 26 (Zoning), and Article 88 special use standards governing home occupations and accessory uses. Storage or extended parking of commercial trucks, tractor units, semi-trailers, dump trucks, tow trucks, taxicabs operating commercially, and similar vehicles on residentially zoned parcels is generally limited to vehicles owned and operated by a resident as part of their employment, parked in a non-front-yard location, and not used to conduct active commercial business on site. Operating a commercial trucking, repair, or storage yard from a residential parcel is not a permitted home occupation under Sec. 26-88-110 unless the parcel is in a commercial, industrial, or agricultural zoning district that allows the use, or a use permit has been obtained. Public-road parking of commercial vehicles in unincorporated Sonoma County is also subject to California Vehicle Code Sec. 22507.5 (which lets cities and counties prohibit parking of commercial vehicles over 10,000 pounds on residential streets between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.) where the County has posted the appropriate signage.
Sonoma County operates a free Abandoned Vehicle Abatement Program through Permit Sonoma's Code Enforcement Division, authorized under California Vehicle Code Sec. 22660 and the County's Vehicle Abatement Ordinance codified in Chapter 18 of the Sonoma County Code (Motor Vehicles and Traffic). The program lets property owners in unincorporated Sonoma County have inoperative, wrecked, or dismantled passenger cars, pickups, SUVs, and vans removed from their property at no cost in exchange for written permission to dismantle the vehicle; the program does not service recreational vehicle storage yards or auto repair shops. On public roads, abandoned vehicles are addressed under California Vehicle Code Sec. 22651 (which authorizes tow within 72 hours of being parked) and Sec. 22669-22671 (which let public agencies remove vehicles that are inoperative or abandoned on a highway). Reports go through the SoCo Connect platform or by calling Code Enforcement at (707) 565-1992; the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office handles street-side enforcement on unincorporated county roads, and the California Highway Patrol handles state highways. The Abandoned Vehicle Abatement Service Authority (AVASA) - a separate countywide JPA funded by a $1 annual DMV registration surcharge under CVC Sec. 9250.7 - reimburses participating cities and the County for abatement costs.
California Vehicle Code § 22651
(k) If a vehicle is parked or left standing upon a highway for 72 or more consecutive hours in violation of a local ordinance authorizing removal. (l) If a vehicle is illegally parked on a highway in violation of a local ordinance forbidding
1 cities in Sonoma County have their own parking rules rules. Each link goes to that city's dedicated page with code citations.
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