Kenosha, WI Parking Rules: RV & Boat Parking (2026)

Section 16.17.L of the Property Maintenance Code, "Vehicles, Trailer and Equipment Parking and Storage," governs where recreational vehicles, boats and trailers can sit on a residential lot. Subsection L.2 provides that the owner of a residentially zoned or used premises with a principal structure "may not allow parking or storage of motor vehicles, recreational vehicles, truck campers and/or caps, camping trailers or boats within the front yard and street side yard areas as defined by the City of Kenosha Zoning Ordinance, unless on driveway aprons." The same subsection separately bars parking or storage of semi trucks, semi trailers, box trucks or similar vehicles on residential premises outright, with exceptions only for vehicles used in compliance with Sections 7.128/7.129 of the Code of General Ordinances or for active, permitted construction work on the premises.

Critically, Subsection L.2 also prohibits using any recreational vehicle or tent for "living, sleeping, or housekeeping purposes when parked or stored on a residentially zoned lot," though RVs may serve as temporary living quarters during a declared emergency. For a residential lot with no principal building erected, Subsection L.3 bars any parking or storage of motor vehicles, RVs, campers, trailers or boats at all, except for vehicles actively used in permitted construction work, and even then storage is not allowed on a vacant lot unless a principal building already exists.

Nonresidential lots with no principal structure face a parallel rule under the unlettered paragraph following L.3: storage is allowed only under an Occupancy Permit, Site Plan Approval, Conditional Use Permit, or parking lot permit. Subsection L.1 separately makes the property owner responsible for complying with Sections 7.128 and 7.129 governing motor vehicle and prohibited-vehicle parking generally. Violations of Chapter XVI, including this parking rule, are penalized under Section 16.26 at up to $1,000 per day of continuing violation, plus prosecution costs, enforced by the Department of City Inspections.