Orange County, FL Parking Rules: RV & Boat Parking (2026)

The default in Orange County is a prohibition. Section 38-79(45) says that, except as provided in subsections (45)a. through f. for boats and boat trailers and subsections (45)g. through j. for recreational vehicles, no boat or boat trailer, regardless of its length, and no recreational vehicle, may be parked, stored, or otherwise kept on a lot or parcel. The zoning use table lists "Recreational vehicle or boat storage and parking" as a residential-only use, and § 38-79 sends residential and agricultural districts back to this subsection for RV parking.

Some watercraft fall outside the rule. A "boat" does not include a canoe, a sailboat with the mast down, or a jon boat, each sixteen feet or less in length, or a personal watercraft such as a jet ski. Length is measured from the front of the bow to the back of the stern, excluding the motor or propeller. A recreational vehicle is defined in § 38-1527 and covers travel trailers (no more than 8.5 feet wide and 40 feet long), camping trailers, truck campers, park trailers, tents and motor homes.

Boat numbers depend on lot size. A lot of one-quarter acre or less holds two boats and boat trailers in total. A lot over one-quarter acre up to one-half acre holds three. A lot over one-half acre holds four. Every tier allows only one boat in the front yard. The registered owner must be the owner or lessee of the principal structure, no boat can sit wholly or partly in a public or private right-of-way including the sidewalk, and no boat can be occupied or used for storage.

Placement depends on length. A boat or trailer of 24 feet or less can go in a garage, under a carport, in the driveway, on an approved surface in the front yard (asphalt, gravel, pavers or concrete, placed immediately contiguous to the driveway), in the side yard, or in the rear half of the lot. A boat over 24 feet is limited to a garage, a carport or the rear half, never the driveway or front yard, and its owner must obtain a permit from the zoning division. Boats in the rear half must be screened from the right-of-way, sit 10 feet from side lot lines and 5 feet from the rear lot line, and those setbacks drop to zero with a six-foot fence, wall or vegetative buffer.

Recreational vehicles follow a separate set of limits. One RV per lot, owned by the owner or lessee of the principal structure, never occupied while parked, on an approved surface in the front half behind the front yard setback or on an unimproved surface in the rear half. It cannot block the view of the principal structure from the front right-of-way, uses the same 10 foot side and 5 foot rear setbacks, and requires a zoning division permit. The subsection was last amended by Ord. No. 2023-46 on 12-12-23.