Kent County, DE Parking Rules: RV & Boat Parking (2026)

Section 205-24 does not ban parking a recreational vehicle in a residential yard or driveway, but it draws a hard line against treating that vehicle as a dwelling. Subsection A states RVs are not considered dwelling units intended for permanent habitation unless used as a temporary emergency residence, which covers situations like displacement after a fire or storm rather than everyday living. Subsection B spells out what counts as evidence of habitation: sleeping in the vehicle, setting up housekeeping or cooking, eating, running electrical cords, extension cords, hoses or cables to the RV, or any other activity that, considering all circumstances, makes it look like someone is using the vehicle as a living accommodation.

Code enforcement can rely on any of those factors, alone or together, to find a violation, so an RV that is merely parked and unoccupied does not trigger the section, but one with a power cord run to the house and a hose hooked to an outdoor spigot starts to look occupied under the code's own test. Subsection C separately bars making a sewer connection with a recreational vehicle or dumping its wastewater onto public or private land anywhere other than a designated RV waste dump station, a rule that applies whether or not the vehicle is being lived in.

The section sits among other supplementary regulations in Article IV alongside portable storage units and antique vehicle storage, reflecting the County's broader approach of allowing accessory uses on residential lots while stopping them from becoming unpermitted second households or waste-disposal problems.