Snowbird RV park, Mohave County, Arizona

A model project in a county that publishes its RV park rules

This is a model project: a 100 to 200 site snowbird RV park in unincorporated Mohave County, Arizona, used to show how the county ordinance and the state rules shape a preliminary site plan. It is not a built or commissioned project.

Mohave County regulates RV parks through its Zoning Ordinance, adopted Nov 2, 2015 and revised through Aug 3, 2026 (2026-05) ^[1]. The RV park standards sit in Section 37.G, with a Petition of Exception route in 37.G.6 ^[5]. The county allows RV parks by right only in C-RE and C-2H, and in R-RV with an approved RV Park Plan; everywhere else the use takes a Special Use Permit issued by the Board of Supervisors ^[1].

The state layer is the Arizona Department of Health Services rule, 9 A.A.C. 8, Article 5 (R9-8-501 to R9-8-507, effective March 6, 2019), which replaced the old trailer coach rules; some county pages still post the repealed text ^{[2, 6]}. The state rule regulates sanitation and water and sets no density or site-size rule, so the layout numbers come from the county ^[2].

One limit of the record should be stated up front: the numeric density, space size, setback and street width values inside Section 37.G were not retrieved for this case. The page shows where each rule sits and what the plan must prove against it, and it does not fill the gap with assumed numbers. The design method follows the RV park site plan hub; the statewide picture is on the Arizona RV park site plan page and the Arizona site plan page; and the other model projects are in the case studies.

At a glance

Approval path

Every approval in order. "Not stated" means the county or state record retrieved does not publish the value.

The one published county clock in the record is the PAD minor amendment, at 15 working days ^[1]. The choice at row 2 shapes everything after it. On land already zoned C-RE or C-2H, or rezoned to R-RV with an RV Park Plan, the use needs no Special Use Permit; on A, A-R, R-E, R-M, C-1 or C-2 land, the project goes to a Planning and Zoning Commission recommendation and a Board decision ^[1].

Two state permits sit under the site plan. ADEQ construction stormwater coverage is under AZPDES CGP AZG2025-001, effective August 29, 2025 and expiring August 28, 2030; it applies to construction disturbing "1 or more acres" or part of a common plan, with a discharge to a WOTUS or MS4, and the erosivity waiver is limited to 1 to 5 acre sites not near impaired waters or Outstanding Arizona Waters ^[9]. The Aquifer Protection Permit under A.R.S. 49-241 is required for discharging facilities, including sewage treatment facilities "including on-site wastewater treatment facilities" and dry wells, so a package wastewater plant or drywells on an RV park fall within its scope ^[8].

Design standards

County standards (Mohave County Zoning Ordinance).

State standards (ADHS 9 A.A.C. 8, Article 5).

National standards that act on the layout.

No verbatim text of the 37.G numeric standards is in the record retrieved, so this page cites those provisions by section rather than quoting them. The two layout numbers the record does fix are the ADHS 400 ft walk to a toilet for dependent RVs and the 300 ft reach to potable water ^{[2, 3]}. For a seasonal park, the NEC note in the 2023 text matters as much: the 40 percent 50 A figure is a floor, and the code warns that seasonal parks could approach 100 percent 50 A ^[15].

Determination

Mohave County's record publishes no resized program for this asset: the density, space size and setback numbers sit in Section 37.G and were not retrieved, so the 100 to 200 site program is tested against 37.G at RV Park Plan review, with the Petition of Exception in 37.G.6 as the published route for any deviation ^[5].

What the record does settle for the model:

• Zoning route. The model assumes a parcel in, or rezoned to, R-RV or C-RE so that the RV Park Plan is the decisive review; on any other district the program goes to the Board as a Special Use Permit ^[1].
• Long-stay units. A snowbird program raises the long-stay question. ADHS defines a dwelling space by occupancy of more than 30 days, and the county lets a dependent park model serve as a permanent residence in an RV park while an independent park model counts as an RV ^{[2, 5, 14]}. Under Arizona's Recreational Vehicle Long-Term Rental Space Act, a stay of more than 180 days makes the occupant a tenant (A.R.S. 33-2102) ^[19]. The plan marks which pads are drawn for park models and which for RVs.
• Sanitation. The ADHS toilet ratio applies to dependent RVs, so the bathhouse count depends on how many sites are drawn without full hookups ^{[2, 3]}.
• Electrical. The pedestal schedule follows NEC 551.71 in its 2023 text, with the seasonal-park note in view ^[15].
• Stormwater. A model parcel of 10 to 25 acres (planning assumption) is above the CGP's 1 acre threshold, so the ADEQ notice of intent is part of the schedule ^[9].

Site data and yield

The preliminary plan carries a site data table on the sheet. For this model it reads:

For yield context from elsewhere in Arizona: Coconino County caps RV parks at 12 per acre unless the Board of Supervisors approves a master plan, and requires 10 ft between units and 10 ft from property lines ^[20]. The Town of Parker sets a maximum density of 20 spaces per net acre, spaces of 1,250 sq ft and 30 ft wide, and 5 ft between RVs including awnings (10-11-16) ^[21]. The City of Eloy requires one 9 x 20 ft visitor space per 8 RV spaces (21-2-7.10) ^[22]. The RV sites per acre guide sets these against the state caps.

Comparable approvals

No Mohave County RV park approval is in the record retrieved, so this page names no Mohave County comparable.

Elsewhere in Arizona, the record shows how other jurisdictions route the same use: Apache County requires a CUP for any RV park (Art. 11 s. 1107) ^[23]; the Town of Parker requires a CUP in R-3, approved by the town council, bans park models and limits stays to 180 days per year ^[21]; Coconino County allows more than 12 per acre only through a Board-approved master plan in its RC and PC zones ^[20]. The other model RV cases: RV resort, Bandera County, Texas, RV park, Polk County, Florida and RV resort with cabins, Sevier County, Tennessee.

Cost and phasing

An Arizona per-pad cost is not in the record retrieved. The county publishes no fee amounts in the ordinance: planning fees are set by Board resolution (Section 7), and the Environmental Health fee schedule was revised in 2023 ^{[1, 12]}.

Phasing has one published deadline: under a PAD, the first final plat or site plan is due within 2 years of PAD approval (26.D.6) ^[1]. A phased plan therefore shows the full build-out at zoning and RV Park Plan review and times the first phase's site plan inside that window. More national context: 2026 RV park development cost benchmarks.

Submittal anatomy: what the plan carries and what the engineer adds

The preliminary plan is the base sheet for every stage; it does not carry sewer, water or electrical design, or grading and drainage engineering. Those are drawn by the client's engineer of record on top of it. More on the service: preliminary site plan.

Conditions and handoff

• Operation. A public accommodation permit from Environmental Health, with inspection at least annually ^[4].
• Flood. RVs in a Special Flood Hazard Area must comply with the Mohave County Flood Control Ordinance (37.K.2.f) ^[10]. Under the federal NFIP rule, an RV on site 180 consecutive days or more that is not fully licensed and ready for highway use must meet manufactured home elevation and anchoring, which bears directly on long seasonal stays ^[16].
• Dark sky. Section 38 Outdoor Light Control applies to pole and pedestal lighting ^[1].
• Screening. A view-obscuring device on lines abutting A-R or incompatible uses in commercial zones ^[1].
• Park models. Pads drawn for dependent park models are permanent-residence pads under 37.K.3.a; the model groups them in their own pod ^[14].

Handoff. The preliminary plan fixes the layout, the yield and the site data table. The engineer of record then prepares the ADEQ wastewater engineering (sealed by an Arizona PE), any Aquifer Protection Permit, the SWPPP for the construction stormwater permit, the water supply submittal to ADWR and ADEQ, the drainage plan for the Flood Control District, and the electrical service under NEC Article 551 ^{[7, 8, 9, 15]}. Views for hearings and marketing are covered on the RV park and resort rendering page, and the wider entitlement sequence is set out in the definitive guide to RV resort entitlement.

By Viola Sauer, Principal, Innowave Studio