Can You Place a Park Model RV on Your Property?
Use this page to understand how park model RV placement works, what actually counts as a permanent foundation, and how ADU and occupancy rules apply. Get a sample message to send your city, then look up your exact county and city below.
Search my county's zoning lawsWhat Is a Park Model RV?
Park model RVs are legally classified as recreational vehicles, built to the ANSI 119.5 standard. They follow RV rules rather than residential building codes, which typically means fewer permitting steps than a site-built ADU - while still needing to comply with local zoning.
- Designed on a single chassis and mounted on wheels
- Certified to ANSI A119.5 - built and inspected to that standard
- Maximum 400 square feet in setup mode (excluding porch and loft)
- Wheels can be removed for placement if a jurisdiction requires it - and reinstalled later
Where a Park Model RV Can Go
Every model we sell is built to ANSI A119.5 and RVIA certified. That certification is what opens doors, because it puts the unit in a category park managers and code officials already recognize. These units also meet the tiny home on wheels definition, which matters for communities built around that standard.
Some placements are simple. Private property is the one that takes homework.
The straightforward ones
Tiny home communities
Where most of our buyers want to be. These communities require a unit meeting the tiny home on wheels definition. A park model RV meets it, so certification is rarely the sticking point. Still the rarest of the three, but growing.
Long-term RV parks
The widest availability by far. RVIA certification is usually the only thing a park needs to see, and most long-term and annual-stay parks across Oregon and Washington take park model RVs directly.
Mobile and manufactured home communities
Widely accepted. These communities are already built for units delivered on a chassis, so the setup is familiar. Park rules still vary, so confirm with the community.
Private property: three buckets
This is where it varies, and it varies a lot. Every city and county lands somewhere on this spectrum.
Look up your county and city in the tool below to see where yours lands.
What Zoning Actually Cares About
Planning departments are not evaluating whether your unit is nice. They are running through a short list of specific questions, and the answers decide whether you get a yes.
Here is that list. Tap any item to open it.
1 Build type Local building code, HUD, or ANSI 119.5. These are ANSI.
Three standards exist for a small dwelling, and they are not interchangeable. Which one your unit carries determines which chapter of the code the planner opens, so establish this first. It settles most of the other questions on this list.
- Local residential building code. Site-built houses and ADUs. Plan review, building official inspections, permanent structure.
- HUD code. Manufactured homes. Federal standard, HUD label, regulated as a manufactured dwelling.
- ANSI A119.5. Park model RVs. National RV standard, third party certified, titled as a vehicle.
Officials sometimes assume "tiny home" means the first or second. It does not here, and correcting that early saves a lot of back and forth.
2 Size Under 400 sq ft is the line that matters, and occasionally it cuts the other way.
ANSI A119.5 caps a park model RV at 400 square feet in setup mode, excluding lofts and porches. That number is not arbitrary. It is what keeps the unit inside the RV category instead of crossing into manufactured or site-built territory.
Some jurisdictions also set a minimum square footage for a dwelling, which is where size can work against you. A small number of counties require more floor area than a park model RV has. Pacific County, Washington is the one we run into, with a 410 sq ft minimum for tiny homes.
3 Foundation Piers and tiedowns usually count. Poured concrete almost never applies.
"Permanent foundation" sounds like poured concrete and an excavation crew. In most jurisdictions it does not mean that. What they want is proof the unit sits on engineered footings, is anchored down, and is not going anywhere.
Concrete block or steel piers on footings, with the unit strapped to ground anchors. Same method used under manufactured homes across Oregon and Washington, so state installation code already covers it.
This is the update worth knowing about. More and more counties now accept this as a permanent foundation. When they do, the process gets easy: no excavation crew, no cure time, no engineering review, and the install stays reversible.
Precast pier heads with steel pins driven to bearing soil. Installed in under two days, minimal excavation, no cure time. They carry ICC-ES evaluation report ESR-1895, which is what a building official wants when they need documentation instead of a judgment call.
Use these when the jurisdiction asks for an engineered system or the soil is poor. Made by Pin Foundations in Gig Harbor, Washington, and accepted in multiple Washington jurisdictions.
A park model RV sits on a steel chassis with axles and a hitch. It is engineered to rest on piers and be anchored down. Setting one into a poured foundation would take significant structural modification to a unit that was never designed for it.
We do not recommend it and we do not see it done. If a jurisdiction insists, go back and ask whether the requirement was written for site-built structures. Options one and two are the move.
4 Wheels Some jurisdictions require them on. Some require them off.
This one splits cleanly and it is worth asking about early, because the two camps want opposite things.
- Wheels stay on. The unit remains legally a vehicle, which is what keeps it inside the RV provisions. Portland works this way: the unit stays on wheels and is treated as an occupied RV.
- Wheels come off. Wheels read as temporary, and the jurisdiction is trying to establish the unit as fixed in place, usually alongside a foundation requirement.
Either request is straightforward to meet. Wheels come off for placement and go back on if you ever move the unit.
5 Transportability Some codes require it stay movable. Others require the opposite.
Closely tied to the wheels question, and it catches people off guard because jurisdictions pull in opposite directions here too.
- Must stay transportable. Some codes require the unit remain capable of being relocated, sometimes on short notice. The logic is that a movable unit stays an RV and never becomes a permanent structure.
- Must not be readily transportable. Others require the opposite, because immobility is how they define a permanent dwelling.
Ask which way your jurisdiction leans before you commit to a foundation, because the answer changes which foundation option makes sense. A pier and tiedown setup keeps both doors open longer than anything else.
6 Occupancy limits Anywhere from two weeks to 180 days, and some places have no limit at all.
Most Northwest counties limit how long someone can occupy an RV on private property, and the range is wide. Some allow two weeks. Others allow 30, 90, or 180 days. Some write it as "not as a permanent residence" without naming a number. And some, Portland among them, allow long-term occupancy outright.
These limits are written into county and city code. They are real rules with real penalties, and they apply whether or not anyone is watching.
Pierce County, Washington states it plainly: it is illegal to occupy a recreational vehicle without a temporary use permit, or for longer than the permit allows.
Most jurisdictions have no registry of occupied park model RVs, no clock running anywhere, and nobody assigned to track them. Enforcement across the Northwest is predominantly complaint driven.
Snohomish County says it directly:
7 Utilities and septic capacity Often the real bottleneck in rural counties, and it has nothing to do with the unit.
Two different questions hide in here, and the second one stops more projects than the first.
Hookups. Does the jurisdiction want RV-style connections or permanent utility connections? RV-style is usually simpler and keeps the unit in the RV category. Permanent connections can be what a county requires to treat the placement as legitimate, and they can also be what triggers reclassification. Ask which they expect.
Septic capacity. Adding a second occupied dwelling often triggers a septic review. If your drainfield was sized for one house, the county may require an expansion or an entirely new system before it approves anything, and that can cost more than the difference between two models. On city sewer and water this is usually straightforward. On a well and septic, ask about capacity in your first conversation, not after you have picked a floor plan.
8 Setbacks and lot placement Distance from the lines, distance from the house, and sometimes which side of it.
Even where placement is allowed, where you put it is regulated. Expect rules on:
- Distance from property lines
- Distance from the primary dwelling. Portland requires a minimum of five feet
- Position relative to the house. Portland requires the unit sit behind the front facade of the main home
- Driveway access, and in some rural areas fire apparatus access
These rarely kill a project, but they can move the unit fifteen feet from where you pictured it. Worth knowing before you level a pad or trench a utility run.
9 Dwelling units per lot Some codes cap how many dwellings a parcel can have, regardless of type.
This is the quiet one. A jurisdiction can be perfectly comfortable with park model RVs and still say no, because the zoning district allows one dwelling unit per lot and you already have a house on it.
When that is the blocker, the workaround usually is not the unit. It is the category. If the county classifies the park model RV as a recreational vehicle rather than a dwelling unit, the cap may not apply at all. That distinction is exactly what the ADU section below gets into.
Ask directly: does an occupied park model RV count against the dwelling unit limit for this parcel?
10 Flood, fire, and critical areas Overlays on the parcel can add requirements no matter what you put there.
Some of what a planner raises has nothing to do with the unit and everything to do with the land:
- Floodplain. If the placement sits in a mapped flood zone, expect elevation requirements and possibly a separate permit.
- Wildfire. Defensible space and access requirements are increasingly common across rural Oregon and Washington.
- Critical areas. Wetlands, steep slopes, shoreline, and riparian buffers each carry their own review.
None of this is park model specific. It applies to anything you place on the parcel. But it adds time and cost, so check it alongside the zoning question rather than after you have an answer.
11 They may not know what this is No clear law and an unfamiliar planner. The most common obstacle, and the most fixable.
The most common reason people get a no is not that park model RVs are prohibited. It is that the planner has never been asked about one and there is no clear provision in their code either way. Faced with something unfamiliar and undefined, the safe answer is no.
That is fixable, and it is why terminology matters. Lead with "Park Model RV built to ANSI 119.5 code." That points them to a defined national category instead of leaving them to guess. Then hand them documentation so they have something to put in the file.
Your neighbors are the actual gatekeepers
Since enforcement runs on complaints, the people next door have more influence over your placement than your county planner does. Nearly every enforcement case we hear about started with a neighbor, not an inspector.
Anywhere the rules are grey, and that is most places, do this before the unit shows up:
- Talk to the adjacent neighbors firstTell them what is coming, roughly where it will sit, and who will be in it. Surprise is what generates complaints. A five minute conversation before delivery costs nothing and prevents most problems.
- Ask what would bother themSight lines, parking, noise, a new driveway, where the trash cans go. Most objections are small and fixable when you hear them early.
- Fix the fixable thingsShift the placement ten feet. Add screening. Move where a vehicle parks. Cheap now, expensive later.
- Read your CC&Rs and HOA rulesThese are separate from county zoning and are often stricter. Plenty of properties clear county review and then get stopped by a homeowners association covenant that bans RVs outright. Check the recorded documents before you buy the property or the unit.
- Get your answer from the county in writingAn email from a planner naming your zoning designation and confirming what is allowed is worth far more than a phone call you remember. If a complaint comes later, that email is what you point to.
Can a Park Model RV Be an ADU?
By definition, no. In practice, plenty of counties allow one for exactly the same use.
An accessory dwelling unit is defined as a residential structure, meaning built to residential building code and inspected by a building official. A park model RV is built to ANSI A119.5 and titled as a vehicle. Different standard, different category. On paper it does not qualify.
But the label is not really what people are after. What they want is a second place to live on a property that already has a house. Counties can allow that without ever calling it an ADU, and many do. They permit it as an occupied RV, a mobile dwelling unit, a temporary dwelling, or under whatever category their code already carries. Same outcome, different name on the paperwork.
What is changing
More counties are treating these as close enough. Not an exact ADU, but close enough to do the same job, and housing pressure across Oregon and Washington keeps pushing planning departments that direction. The trend is moving the right way.
It is still not clean. Two neighboring counties can land in opposite places, and we regularly see the same office give different answers depending on who picks up the phone. If the first answer is no, it is worth asking again, in writing, with the specific code language in front of them.
Ask about the use, not the label
Do not open with "can I put a tiny home ADU on my lot." That gets you the ADU handout and a fast no. Ask these two instead:
- Can an ANSI A119.5 park model RV be placed and occupied on this property under your recreational vehicle provisions?
- If not, is there any category that allows a second occupied dwelling here, such as an occupied RV, mobile dwelling unit, temporary dwelling, caretaker unit, or hardship permit?
Then get the answer in writing. That matters more here than anywhere else on this page, because a verbal yes from one staffer does not survive a complaint. The third email template below is written for this exact conversation.
Categories worth naming when you ask:
How to Check Your Zoning
We put together sample messages below that you can copy, modify, and send directly to your local city or county planning department. You do not need to share your exact address - just your zoning designation (for example: R-5, RR-10, or MUA). Your zoning designation can usually be found on your county assessor's website or by searching your address in your county's GIS map tool.
We included an initial inquiry template and a follow-up response for common situations where they need more information or push back. Modify these based on your specific property and needs. If you have further technical questions after speaking with your city, you can reach out to NW Tiny Homes and we can help point you in the right direction.
Hi there,
I am considering placing a Park Model RV built to ANSI 119.5 code on my property. The unit is under 400 square feet and RVIA certified. (Washington properties: also note the unit carries a Washington State L&I insignia.)
Can you help me confirm the following:
- Is an occupied Park Model RV allowed in my zoning district?
- Are there any setback or placement requirements for park model RVs?
- Is a permit required for delivery or utility connections (water, sewer, electric)?
- Beyond utility connections, are there any other permits, inspections, or approvals required to place a park model RV on this property?
- Are there any time or occupancy limits on how long someone can live in a park model RV on private property?
- If a permanent foundation is required, would a pier and tiedown system meet that requirement, or does the code specifically require poured concrete?
- If outright placement is not allowed, is there a temporary use, accessory dwelling, or alternative compliance path I should apply under instead?
If you are able to reply by email rather than phone, I would appreciate having the answer in writing for my records. Thank you for your help.
Browse Zoning Laws by County and City
Select your state, then search by county or city name. Every county in Oregon and Washington researched. Cities listed separately within each county.
Zoning confirmed? Let's talk.
Once your city or county has confirmed placement is possible, come see us. We'll help you find the right model, walk through financing, and get you on the delivery schedule.
Schedule a Tour For all zoning questions, please use the templates above to contact your local planning department directly. We're not able to advise on specific zoning situations - your city or county planner is the right person for that.