RV park site plans in Michigan

Michigan's regime: Part 125 and the EGLE campground rules

Michigan regulates RV parks as campgrounds. The statute is Part 125 of the Public Health Code, MCL 333.12501 to 333.12516 (PA 368 of 1978), and the design rules are the campground rules at Mich. Admin. Code R 325.1551 et seq., administered by EGLE's Drinking Water and Environmental Health Division ^[1]. The rules recognize modern, primitive and temporary campgrounds ^[1]. A campground is 5 or more recreational units (MCL 333.12501) ^[5], and the license requirement applies to any campground of that size ^[6]. Building a campground without the EGLE construction permit is a misdemeanor ^[1]. A temporary campground is limited to 2 weeks, or 4 weeks with an extension ^[7].

The wider approval layers in the state are on the Michigan state page. This page covers what the campground rules do to an RV park layout.

The local gate: zoning approval comes before EGLE

The first approval for a Michigan RV park is local. Under the Michigan Zoning Enabling Act, "The local unit of government may require the submission and approval of a site plan before authorization of a land use or activity regulated by a zoning ordinance," and the ordinance must name the body or official that reviews it (MCL 125.3501(1)) ^[8]. Site plan review is mandatory for special land uses and planned unit developments (MCL 125.3501(3)) ^[8].

The statute limits what the reviewing body may weigh. Decisions must rest on the standards in the zoning ordinance and in other properly adopted documents and statutes (MCL 125.3501(4)) ^[8]. A complete application then has a right to approval: "a site plan shall be approved if it contains the information required by the zoning ordinance and is in compliance" with those requirements (MCL 125.3501(5)) ^[8]. Once approved, the site plan becomes part of the record, and later changes need the agreement of the landowner and the approving body (MCL 125.3501(2)) ^[8].

EGLE ties its own permit to that local step. Its New Campground Guidance (October 2025) says EGLE requires tentative zoning approval before it issues a campground construction permit ^[4]. The township or county site plan is therefore the gate to the state permit, and the layout the local body approves is the layout the engineered set for EGLE has to carry ^{[8, 4]}.

The state permit and license sequence

In Michigan the state itself permits a campground before it is built. After the zoning step, the state approvals run in sequence, and the site plan is the drawing each of them rests on ^{[1, 2]}:

Because the permit is issued against sealed, approved plans and the license against a statement that the built campground matches them, the layout has to be settled before the construction permit application, not adjusted in the field ^{[2, 11]}. Michigan is one of the states where the campground plan set itself must carry a seal ^[10]. The preliminary site plan is the layout the engineer of record builds that sealed set on.

Site standards in R 325.1556, the companion rules and EGLE guidance

The Michigan rules and EGLE's 2025 guidance bind every site on the sheet through a short list of numbers ^{[2, 4]}:

Three of these change the drawing more than the others. The frontage rule means every site has to touch a road, so the internal road network has to reach every pad, and only walk-in sites may sit back from it ^{[2, 4]}. EGLE's 20 ft minimum then sets the width of every loop that delivers that frontage ^[4]. In group camping areas the rule bars connecting more than one unit to an outlet, so paired or buddy pads that face each other across a shared patio still need a separate outlet for each unit ^[13].

What Michigan's numbers mean for the layout

Michigan sets no sites-per-acre cap, so the yield comes from the 1,200 sq ft site minimum, the 15 ft frontage rule and the land the roads take ^[2]. Every site needs its frontage on a road at least 20 ft wide ^{[2, 4]}, and the bathhouse, the sanitary station, the office and the stormwater areas take land the sites cannot use, so the count is set by the drawn layout, not by dividing the parcel by the site minimum.

The Michigan minimum is the same as Florida's and larger than Colorado's, but the caps work differently in each state:

For a Michigan site plan, the site data table should carry the licensed site count as its own line, because R 325.1556(8) ties the number of sites to the license ^[2], and the license fee steps with the count ^[1]. The arithmetic behind caps and real yields is set out in RV sites per acre, the Colorado comparison in RV park site plans in Colorado, and the Florida rule in RV park site plans in Florida.

Sanitary fixtures and the service building

Michigan sizes the toilets and lavatories of a modern campground from the fixture schedule in Rule 21 of the campground rules ^[15]. Where primitive sites are served by an adjacent modern service building, the rules add 1 toilet and 1 lavatory per sex for every 50 primitive sites ^{[15, 1]}. Campgrounds of more than 520 sites add fixtures in further increments ^{[15, 1]}. When only some sites have water and sewer connections, the fixture schedule has to account for the sites without those services ^[15]. On the plan, the split between full-hookup, partial and dry sites and the position of the service building are therefore settled together, because the fixture count follows the split ^[15].

Phasing and the licensed site count

A campground built in phases meets EGLE at each phase. The construction permit covers alteration and development as well as new construction (MCL 333.12505) ^[1], and EGLE's fee for an addition or modification is $360, against $965 for a new campground ^{[3, 4]}. Because R 325.1556(8) limits the sites to the licensed count ^[2], a later phase adds sites through a new permit and a license that carries the new count ^{[1, 2]}. The site data table should show the licensed count phase by phase, so each EGLE application matches the drawing the local body approved.

Cabins, park models and glamping units

Michigan draws a clear line between units that may sit on a licensed campsite and units that may not. EGLE names yurts, tipis, Tentrr units, glamping units and canvas tents as possible "camping cabins" under 400 sq ft on a licensed campsite ^[18]. Cabins under 400 sq ft on skids, with no direct water connection, are treated as campground units ^[18]. A unit over 400 sq ft, permanently attached, or with interior water is a "resort cabin" that cannot go on a licensed campsite and needs a building permit ^[18]. Outlets are allowed; sinks, showers and toilets are not ^[18]. Electricity is allowed if a licensed electrician installs it with a permit ^[18]. Permanent structures that need footings are not allowed on campsites (EGLE EQP2280) ^[11], and accessory structures on licensed campsites may not be used for sleeping ^[14].

Park model RVs are defined separately: a single chassis unit of 400 sq ft maximum, built to ANSI A119.5 ^[1]. For the service buildings on the plan, such as the bathhouse and the office, the state building code in force is the 2021 Michigan Building Code, on the 2021 IBC, effective April 9, 2025 ^[19].

For the plan, each unit type on the schedule has to be placed on one side of those lines. A dry camping cabin counts as a campsite and sends its guests to a central bathhouse ^[18]. An ensuite cabin leaves the campsite count and becomes a building with its own building permit ^[18]. It belongs in a separate pod with its own utility service. The same distinctions shape glamping site plans and campground site plans nationally.

Soil erosion and construction stormwater triggers

Two EGLE water permits key off the acreage a project disturbs and its distance to water, and the site plan fixes both. A Part 91 soil erosion and sedimentation control (SESC) permit is generally needed at 1 acre or more, or within 500 ft of a lake or stream ^[20]. Construction stormwater coverage comes through Permit-by-Rule (Rule 2190 under Part 31): from 1 to 5 acres it is automatic once the Part 91 permit is issued, and at 5 acres or more the developer files a notice of coverage through MiWaters with the SESC permit, the plan, a location map and a $400 fee ^[21]. Coverage brings weekly and post-storm inspections, within 24 hours, by a certified stormwater operator ^[21]. Under Permit-by-Rule the Part 91 permit supplies the stormwater coverage up to 5 acres, and the 500 ft lake and stream trigger means a waterfront RV park can need the permit with less than an acre disturbed ^{[20, 22]}.

The site data table can carry the developed acreage, and the plan can show the 500 ft line from any lake or stream, so the engineer of record sees which permit path applies before the erosion control design starts.

Floodplain and electrical layers

• Floodplain. Under 44 CFR 60.3(c)(14), an RV in a special flood hazard area must meet manufactured home elevation and anchoring unless it is on site fewer than 180 consecutive days, or is fully licensed and ready for highway use ^[23]. Michigan goes beyond the federal rule: campground water outlets must sit above the 100-year floodplain elevation (R 325.1552(3)) ^[1]. On a riverfront parcel, the water outlet locations and the flood line have to be drawn together.
• Electrical. The national reference is NEC 551.71. In the 2023 text, every site with electrical supply needs a 20 A receptacle, 70 percent or more of sites need a 30 A receptacle, and 40 percent or more of new sites need a 50 A receptacle ^[24]. The pedestal plan follows from the site count and the receptacle mix; the electrical engineer of record confirms the adopted edition and sizes the service.

How Michigan compares with its neighbours

Wisconsin and Ohio also license campgrounds at the state level. Wisconsin draws its cabin line close to Michigan's: a camping cabin there is 400 sq ft or less, including a yurt (ATCP 79.03(4)) ^[25], and an operator-provided unit over 400 sq ft needs a tourist rooming house license (ATCP 79.13(3)) ^[26]. The site numbers differ more:

A Michigan layout moved across the line into Wisconsin meets a density cap it never had to check at home; one moved into Ohio can use smaller sites. The Wisconsin and Illinois state pages set out the approval layers in two neighbouring Lake Michigan states.

What the preliminary plan carries, and what the engineer of record adds

The preliminary plan is the layout the engineer of record builds on. It is what a developer takes to the local zoning authority at the concept or pre-application stage, to a lender, and to a contractor for pricing, before the engineered and sealed set goes to EGLE.

Related plans and reading

The national standards for the asset are on the RV park site plan hub, and amenity-led programs on RV resort site plans. Model projects in other states are collected under case studies. Other state regimes for the same asset: Texas RV parks, Arizona RV parks and Tennessee RV parks.

The studio's preliminary site plan service draws the layout described here, and RV park rendering produces the views a planning board or lender asks to see. For background reading, see RV park design standards for US developers and planning an RV park versus an RV resort.