Monterey, CA Parking Rules: RV & Boat Parking (2026)

Monterey City Code § 38-26(L), part of the supplemental regulations for all R residential districts, treats commercial vehicles, inoperable vehicles, and RVs/trailers as three separate problems. Subsection (L)(1) limits any residential lot to a single commercial vehicle; anything over 22 feet in length, 7-1/2 feet in height, or with a bed 7 feet wide or greater must be kept behind the required setback line, and nothing with a gross vehicle weight of 20,000 pounds or more may be parked or stored on the lot at all.

Subsection (L)(2) requires inoperable or unregistered vehicles on residential property to sit inside a garage, carport, or other enclosed structure; if kept outside, they must be behind the front yard setback and screened from the street. Subsection (L)(3) addresses recreational vehicles and trailers directly: it does not ban parking one on private property, but it bans using it for habitation, meaning sleeping, living, cooking, or dining inside it while parked. Boats are not separately named in this general residential provision; a mandatory screened storage area for boats, trailers and RVs applies specifically to condominium and condominium-conversion projects under § 38-26(M) and (N), which also bars using that storage area to satisfy required parking or open space, a stricter rule than ordinary single-family lots face.