RV park site plans in Arizona

What an Arizona RV park site plan carries

An RV park site plan in Arizona is drawn to two sets of rules at once. The state rule from the Arizona Department of Health Services decides how toilets, water and sewage serve the sites, and it sets no density or site-size rule ^[1]. The county or town zoning code decides whether the park is allowed, how dense it may be, how far apart the units sit and how long guests may stay ^{[3, 4]}. The plan has to answer both on one sheet.

The preliminary plan is a real first draft of the park:

• the entrance, office and internal roads, with every site numbered and dimensioned by type: back-in, pull-through, and park model pads where the jurisdiction allows them;
• the amenity core: clubhouse, pool, bathhouses, laundry and the dump station;
• unit separations drawn to the deployed footprint, since the Town of Parker counts awnings inside its 5 ft between RVs ^[4];
• phase lines, and the land held for the wastewater system and for drainage, sized by the engineer of record;
• a site data table with the lines Arizona reviewers check: gross acreage and density against the local cap, the split between dependent and self-contained sites, toilets against the state ratio, the longest walk from a dwelling space to a toilet and to potable water, the spaces drawn for stays of more than 30 days, and the park model count.

The engineering is not in the plan. ADEQ, or a county it delegates to, reviews wastewater and aquifer protection, and the engineering submittals there come from an Arizona PE (R18-5-507(B)) ^[5]. Water supply, electrical service, grading, drainage and flood elevations are by the client's engineer of record, who seals them on the approved layout. This is the studio's preliminary site plan service, and the national standards behind each line of the site data table are on the RV park site plan hub.

The state rule: 9 A.A.C. 8, Article 5

Arizona regulates RV parks through ADHS, with ADEQ for sewage ^[1]. The operative text is 9 A.A.C. 8, Article 5 (R9-8-501 to R9-8-507), effective March 6, 2019 ^[1]. It replaced the old trailer coach rules, and some county pages still post the repealed text ^{[1, 6]}, so the edition is worth confirming at the first meeting.

The rule sets four things a layout must meet:

• Toilets. One bathroom or toilet alternative per 25 dependent RVs, within 400 ft of every dwelling space (R9-8-503) ^{[1, 2]}. The ratio counts dependent RVs, so the number of sites drawn for them sets the bathhouse count.
• Water. Potable water within 300 ft, at 20 psi, with testing where the park is not a public water system (R9-8-505) ^[1].
• Sewage. Handled under 18 A.A.C. 9 (R9-8-506) ^[1].
• Dwelling space. Defined by occupancy of more than 30 days (R9-8-501(9)) ^[1].

What the rule leaves out matters as much. It sets no density or site-size rule, which leaves both to county and city zoning ^[1]. Article 5 has no state license or fee provision, and inspections run under A.R.S. 36-136(I)(8) ^[1]. The county health office carries the permit in practice: in Mohave County, Environmental Health issues the public accommodation permit under ADHS delegation and a county public accommodations ordinance, and inspects parks at least annually ^[7]. Campgrounds have their own article, Article 6, with sections on toilets and refuse (R9-8-607) and camping shelters (R9-8-608) ^[1].

Statewide permits beyond the health rule

Construction stormwater. ADEQ's construction general permit, AZG2025-001, requires coverage for construction that disturbs 1 or more acres, or is part of a common plan, with a discharge to a protected surface water or an MS4 ^[8]. The erosivity waiver is limited to sites of 1 to 5 acres that are not near impaired waters or Outstanding Arizona Waters, and the current permit requires a new notice of intent and fee ^{[8, 9]}. ADEQ's FY27 schedule lists $527.93 for initial coverage of over 1 to 50 acres and $1,509.75 for a SWPPP review, with annual fees until a Notice of Termination ^[10].

Aquifer protection. A.R.S. 49-241 requires an aquifer protection permit for discharging facilities, among them surface impoundments, dry wells and sewage treatment facilities "including on-site wastewater treatment facilities" ^[11]. A package wastewater plant serving a park is a sewage treatment facility under 49-241(B)(9) ^[11]. Its design, and the permit, sit with the engineer of record; the preliminary plan holds the land for it.

Water supply. ADWR gates subdivisions in Active Management Areas: a subdivision in an AMA needs a Certificate of Assured Water Supply or service from a designated provider ^[12]. Since June 2023, ADWR has stopped approving new groundwater-based assured water supply determinations in the Phoenix AMA ^{[12, 13]}. Rental assets that do not subdivide lots for sale, RV parks among them, sit outside that subdivision certificate requirement ^[12].

Proposition 207. A.R.S. 12-1134 gives an owner just compensation when a land use law enacted after the owner acquired the property reduces its fair market value (12-1134(A)); the owner first serves a 90-day written demand and has three years to file (12-1134(E), (G)) ^[14]. Cities ask for a waiver of that claim under 12-1134(I) with rezonings, and Eloy publishes its Proposition 207 waiver form ^{[15, 14]}.

Seals, the preliminary marking and review clocks

Arizona's seal rule, A.A.C. R4-30-304, puts the registrant's seal and signature on each drawing sheet, the specification cover, reports and letters (R4-30-304(A)) ^[16]. Under R4-30-304(D) a registrant seals a document before submitting it to "any regulatory or review body" unless the document is marked "preliminary," "draft," or "not for construction" ^[16]. That marking is the line the rule draws between an unsealed concept submittal and a sealed document ^[16].

For park buildings, A.R.S. 32-144(A) lets a nonregistrant design "a one or two story building or structure" of not more than 3,000 sq ft, for not more than 20 persons continuously, with spans of 20 ft or less unless engineered trusses are used ^[17]. A park office or bathhouse is measured against that exemption; buildings beyond it are designed by the architect or engineer of record.

Cities and towns post licensing time frames under A.R.S. 9-835, stating the administrative completeness and substantive review periods separately ^[18]. If no completeness or deficiency notice issues within the administrative period, the application "is deemed administratively complete" ^[18]. During substantive review the municipality "may make one comprehensive written or electronic request for corrections" ^[18], and if it misses the overall time frame it refunds the fees ^[18]. The statute does not apply to a license issued within seven working days (9-835(O)) ^[19].

Staff approval of site plans is now the default in cities. HB 2447 (Laws 2025, Chapter 31, signed March 31, 2025) changed A.R.S. 9-500.49 from "may" to "shall," so cities must authorize staff approval of site plans and plats "without a public hearing," effective from and after December 31, 2025 ^[20].

How Arizona's numbers differ from other states

Arizona regulates the same things as Georgia and Utah, sanitation and spacing, and like them leaves density to local zoning ^{[1, 21, 22]}. The numbers differ:

Florida writes density into its state rule: 25 units per gross acre, with 1,200 sq ft per space (64E-15.002) ^[23]. Arizona leaves both numbers to the county or town, so the density line on an Arizona site data table is checked against the local code ^[1]. How gross and net yield are counted is worked through in RV sites per acre.

The local layer: counties and towns

Where a park may go, how dense it may be and how far apart the units sit are local decisions ^{[1, 3, 4]}. The Arizona jurisdictions with published RV park rules:

Mohave's Special Use Permit route covers the A, A-R, R-E, R-M, C-1, C-2 and A-D districts, and R-MH where the site holds a manufactured home park, and the Board of Supervisors decides after a Planning and Zoning Commission recommendation ^[26]. Mohave adds standards around the RV park section. In its commercial zones a view-obscuring device under 37.E.4 is required on lines abutting A-R or incompatible uses (17.B.2, 29.B.4), and Section 38 controls outdoor lighting ^[26]. Where a park also takes manufactured homes, Section 37.F calls for screening between the manufactured home and RV uses, and its manufactured home park standards set a 3 acre minimum park, recreation areas of at least 2,500 sq ft and units 10 ft from boundaries and streets ^[28].

Three routes follow from the table. Where a district allows the use by right, as Mohave's C-RE and C-2H do, staff review decides the layout: the Director reviews the RV Park Plan against Section 37.G ^[27]. Where a conditional or special use permit is required, as in Apache County and in Mohave's other districts, a public hearing decides it, and the plan is the exhibit the board approves ^{[25, 26]}. Where the density exceeds the base cap, as above 12 per acre in Coconino County, a master plan approved by the Board of Supervisors carries it ^[3].

The Phoenix metro

In Phoenix, development review under Zoning Ordinance Section 507 runs from a pre-application conference to preliminary review and final approval ^[29]. Review fees are charged after the second resubmittal, and preliminary documents stay valid for 24 months, with an extra 12 months in phased projects that have partial final approval ^[29]. In the areas Section 507's Tab A guidelines cover, a site analysis goes in with the preliminary site plan ^[30]. A Design Review Committee appeal is filed through ProjectDox with a site plan, building elevations, a context plan, a landscaping and shading plan and a 150 foot owner list ^[31].

Across Maricopa County, disturbing 0.10 acre (4,356 sq ft) or more takes a Rule 310 dust control permit from the county Air Quality Department ^[32], and a trackout control device is required at 2 or more acres disturbed or 100 or more cubic yards hauled per day ^[33]. On water, ADWR has designated 15 municipal providers in the Phoenix AMA, including all large cities ^[12]. The West Valley side of the metro is documented in the industrial outdoor storage model project in Buckeye and the Arizona industrial outdoor storage site plan page.

Snowbird stays and park models

A snowbird program, built around long winter stays, meets different rules in each jurisdiction:

• ADHS defines a dwelling space by occupancy of more than 30 days (R9-8-501(9)) ^[1].
• The Town of Parker limits stays to 180 days per year and bans park models outright ^[4].
• In Mohave County an independent park model counts as an RV in an RV park, while a dependent park model may be a permanent residence in an RV park (37.K.3.a) ^{[27, 34]}.
• Mohave's RV subdivision lots, a separate product from a rental park, start at 2,500 sq ft, with an enclosed accessory structure up to the greater of 250 sq ft or 10 percent of the lot (37.K.4) ^[35].
• A.R.S. 33-2102, read here in a secondary copy of the Recreational Vehicle Long-Term Rental Space Act, treats an occupant who stays more than 180 days as a tenant ^[36].

The plan answers these by marking which pads are drawn for park models and which for long stays, and by grouping park models in their own pod. The count in that pod can then change with the jurisdiction's answer without redrawing the rest of the park.

Where the unsealed plan fits, and what the engineer adds

The stages that decide an Arizona park's layout are reviews of a drawing: the conditional or special use permit hearing, the rezoning or master plan, and the county's review of the RV park plan. In Mohave County the pre-application concept review, which is mandatory for a planned area development, and the rezoning or Special Use Permit stage do not call for a sealed plan ^[26]. A planned area development concept plan carries a map, narrative, topographic description, preliminary drainage plan and phasing; projects of 80 acres or more hold a community meeting with notice to owners within one-half mile at least four weeks before the P&Z hearing (26.C.2, 26.C.3), and the first final plat or site plan is due within 2 years of PAD approval (26.D.6) ^[26]. Mohave sets its fees by Board resolution, not in the ordinance (Section 7) ^[26]. That is where the preliminary plan carries the application, marked preliminary under R4-30-304(D) ^[16].

The sealed work follows on the approved layout, by the engineer of record:

• wastewater and aquifer protection submittals to ADEQ or the delegated county, prepared by an Arizona PE (R18-5-507(B)) ^[5];
• pools, which take ADEQ construction approval before ADHS and county operation ^[37];
• the floodplain permit: in Mohave County, RVs in a Special Flood Hazard Area must comply with the Flood Control Ordinance (37.K.2.f), administered by the Flood Control District ^[35];
• building permits for the clubhouse and bathhouses, under the county-wide building code Mohave has applied since June 7, 2007 ^[26];
• water supply, electrical service, grading and drainage.

The preliminary plan does not carry sewer, water or electrical design, or grading and drainage engineering. It fixes the pads, bathhouses, dump station and roads those designs serve.

The Mohave County model project and related plans

The snowbird RV park in Mohave County is a model project: a 100 to 200 site park traced through the county's by-right districts, the Board-issued Special Use Permit, Section 37.G and the ADHS sanitation rule, with the approval path, design standards and submittal anatomy this page summarizes. For another Arizona county's zoning process on a different asset, see the outdoor storage yard in Pinal County. The state picture across asset classes is on site plans in Arizona.

Related plans: RV resort site plans for the amenity-led program, campground site plans for tent and cabin programs, and RV park rendering for the aerial and street views a board, a lender or an investor reads. RV park plans in other states: Texas RV parks, Florida RV parks, North Carolina RV parks, Colorado RV parks and Tennessee RV parks. The studio's notes on RV park versus RV resort planning and RV park amenities cover the program side. To start an Arizona layout, send the parcel and the program.