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

2-217(I)(3)(n) of the Portsmouth Zoning Ordinance regulates the customary or continual parking of certain vehicles and equipment on driveways and within yards adjacent to streets in residential neighborhoods, since the presence of such vehicles runs contrary to the intended residential character of the neighborhood. The standard reaches heavy trucks with more than two axles and a gross weight over 20,000 pounds, trailers with more than one axle, and major recreational equipment, defined elsewhere in the ordinance to include recreational vehicles, boats and boat trailers and similar equipment.

Under the standard, no heavy truck, trailer or other major recreational equipment may sit in a front yard or a side yard next to a street for more than four days in a calendar year, unless that side yard is narrower than 11 feet. Boats, campers and recreational vehicles must otherwise be kept to the side or rear of the home they belong to. A camper-type trailer used for human habitation cannot be parked anywhere in the city for more than 12 hours, a rule that echoes the separate 12-hour street-parking limit for mobile homes and camper trailers in § 21-3 of the city code.

Most residential zoning districts, including NR, GR, UR, UR-M, HR, HLO and HLB, allow only one such vehicle on a lot at any one time. The rule exempts school buses used to transport children and allows brief, occasional parking for loading, unloading or cleaning.