Smyrna, TN Parking Rules: RV & Boat Parking (2026)

Section 15-605 defines a motorized vehicle broadly: any self-propelled vehicle designed to travel along the ground, including automobiles, buses, motorbikes, motorcycles, motor scooters, trucks, tractors, golf carts, campers (self-propelled or towed), and trailers. Airplanes and self-propelled boats, including jet skis, are added, while children's toys are excluded. It is unlawful to maintain, park, or store more than five of these on any property zoned for residential use.

Recreational vehicles get a narrower lane. Boats with trailers, ATVs, campers, and yard-related vehicles such as lawnmowers and utility trailers can be kept in the rear yard with no part of the vehicle encroaching the rear corner of the residence when not in use, and the rear yard does not have to be fenced or enclosed. The number of those recreational and yard-related vehicles cannot exceed two.

Several carve-outs shape how the count works. Vehicles regularly stored or maintained in a completely enclosed space with a roof, such as a garage, are left out of the count. Vehicles belonging to persons temporarily visiting the residents of a lot are also left out, as long as they are not parked or stored on the lot in excess of one week. The section applies as well to residential lots where properly located and permitted businesses operate, and it does not apply to parcels of land containing five acres or more. The codes enforcement and inspection division enforces it.

Section 15-609 adds a surface rule: vehicles on residential property must sit on a paved, concreted, rock, or gravel driveway, or another engineered porous surface, or inside a roofed enclosure, and § 15-609(3) confirms the rear-yard recreational vehicle allowance applies whatever the surface. Tractor trucks and tractor trailers are banned outright on residential property by § 15-606, except while actively being loaded or unloaded and never beyond 24 hours.