Hendersonville, TN Parking Rules: RV & Boat Parking (2026)

Hendersonville's recreational-vehicle and boat-trailer rules sit in two parts of the city code. First, Section 10.4.17 (Parking) of the City of Hendersonville Zoning Ordinance (Ord. 2025-19) controls private-lot parking citywide: 'The parking and storage of recreational vehicles, campers, travel trailers, motor homes, boats, boat trailers, and similar items are permitted as a residential accessory use provided they are not parked in the required front and corner side yards for more than three days per calendar month except in the driveway. Furthermore, not more than one shall be parked between the house and the street or any side street, even if parked in a driveway.' The same section adds: 'No recreational vehicle, camper, travel trailer, motor home or the like shall be used for living, sleeping, or housekeeping purposes except for visitors for not more than two weeks per calendar year.' Enforcement runs through the Planning Department's Zoning Enforcement Officer using the city's five-step process: initial inspection, first notice (7 to 60 days to cure depending on infraction), second notice, citation, and finally Municipal Court. Property maintenance complaints, including inoperable vehicles, are also enforceable under the 2021 International Property Maintenance Code, which the city formally adopted effective July 1, 2025 by Ordinance 2025-03 series. On the public street, every vehicle - including RVs and trailers - is bound by Tennessee Code Annotated 55-8-160, which prohibits stopping, standing, or parking within 7.5 to 15 feet of a fire hydrant (the municipality sets the exact distance within that range), within an intersection or on a crosswalk, on a sidewalk, in front of a public or private driveway, within 20 feet of a crosswalk at an intersection, within 30 feet of a flashing signal or stop sign, alongside another vehicle (double parking), upon any bridge or in a highway tunnel, or in other listed places. Hendersonville's lake-front character means boat trailer storage is also constrained on park land: under Park Regulations Section 20-503(17), 'No boat or vessel shall be laid up, stored, repaired or placed, except at boat launchings, for any other purpose on park land except by permits' - so the Sanders Ferry Park boat ramp parking lot, the Old Hickory Dam boat ramp lot, and Drakes Creek-area parking are not options for overnight or long-term trailer storage without a permit. Tennessee Title 55, Chapter 16 (TCA 55-16-101 et seq.) governs vehicles, including RVs and trailers, found abandoned, immobile, or unattended.