Plainfield, NJ Parking Rules: RV & Boat Parking (2026)

Section 17:9-41 of the Plainfield Municipal Code regulates outdoor storage in every zone, with the stated purpose of keeping storage from detracting from a neighborhood's or the City's appearance or property values. Subsection A adds that all outdoor storage is also subject to the City Property Maintenance Code.

The recreational vehicle rule is subsection B.4. A motor home, camping trailer, boat or recreational vehicle cannot be stored in a residential zone or on a residential property unless it sits in a side yard, a rear yard or a garage. The text reaches residential properties as well as residential zones, and it says "stored" without setting a time limit. Subsection B.1 backs this up by stating that outdoor storage is not permitted in front yard setbacks.

The same subsection sets weight limits that catch work vehicles. Under B.2, non-passenger automobiles with a gross vehicle weight rating of eight thousand five hundred (8,500) pounds or greater cannot be parked or stored on residential lots, while one compliant non-passenger vehicle under that rating is allowed and vehicles actively engaged in on-site activity are exempt. Under B.3, commercial vehicles at or above that rating, tractor-trailers, their cabs and full-length school buses are prohibited, though one van-type bus can be parked but not stored overnight. B.4 closes with a garage rule: one unregistered or inoperable vehicle can be kept on a residential property, and only inside a garage.

Subsection B.5 requires outdoor storage, except firewood on single- and two-family lots, to be screened by fencing and/or landscape material tall enough to hide it from adjacent residences and public rights-of-way, and it caps non-vehicular storage at six feet in height. The Plainfield City Council last amended the section by Ordinance MC 2013-13 on December 9, 2013.