Charlottesville, VA Parking Rules: RV & Boat Parking (2026)

Section 15-144 groups boats and oversized recreational vehicles with other categories the city treats as street clutter: semi-trucks, big buses and vans, antique- and farm-tagged vehicles, and trailers with more than two wheels per axle. Clause (a)(5) flatly prohibits parking any boat on a public street overnight, while clause (a)(6) targets a recreational vehicle, defined at City Code § 34-1200, or a trailer, defined by Va. 2-1500, once it exceeds twenty feet in length. and apply citywide rather than to a designated list of streets.

An owner who needs a boat or RV parked on the street overnight, for loading before a trip or after returning late, avoids the violation only by first obtaining a parking permit from the city; the ordinance gives Neighborhood Development Services and the police no discretion to waive the rule informally. The same section separately forbids covering a parked boat or RV with a tarp that hides its license plate or state inspection decal, a common workaround owners use to store larger vehicles on residential blocks.

Enforcement runs through the general parking-violation machinery: a ticket issued under § 15-149 that can be paid at the treasurer's office, contested through the police traffic division, or left unpaid until the fine doubles after ninety-six hours.