Royal Oak, MI Parking Rules: RV & Boat Parking (2026)

Section 692-2B of the Trailer Coaches chapter targets residential front yards directly: in all residential districts, no trailer coach, defined broadly at § 692-1 to include any vehicle converted for dwelling or sleeping use without a permanent foundation, may be parked between the established front setback line and the front property line. The only carve-out, added by Ordinance No. 78-16 in 1978, lets an owner park on the driveway in that same front-yard zone for up to 24 hours, and only after getting permission from the Building Inspection Division, and only when loading or unloading is physically impossible behind the setback line.

Section 692-2C adds an occupancy-safety standard that runs alongside the parking rule: a trailer coach may not be used or occupied unless there is a clear, unoccupied 10-foot space on all sides of it, which in practice limits how tightly a coach can be squeezed onto a residential driveway even where parking itself is allowed. Violations of the chapter are enforced under § 692-9: a municipal civil infraction with a fine of not less than $50 plus costs for a first offense, escalating to not less than $100 for a second and $150 for a third, with a fourth or later violation charged as a misdemeanor carrying up to $500 in fines and up to 90 days in jail.

Because the front-yard restriction applies City-wide to every residential lot rather than only to street parking, a homeowner cannot simply move a travel trailer off the street and onto the front driveway apron as a workaround; behind-the-setback storage, typically a side or rear yard, is what the ordinance is steering owners toward.