Flood zone 180-day rule

Definition

In a mapped flood zone, an RV on one site for 180 days running must stay road-ready or be raised like a home.

Why It Matters

A riverside campground's worst night is a flash flood, and the federal flood program writes this rule into local law. No community gets federal flood insurance without floodplain rules meeting federal criteria, which require this in mapped zones with base flood elevations, coastal ones included. A recreational vehicle may sit on a site there for fewer than 180 consecutive days. Past that it must be fully licensed and ready for highway use, or be permitted, elevated and anchored like a permanent home. Ready means on its wheels or jacking system, attached to the site only by quick-disconnect utilities and security devices, and carrying no permanently attached additions. That clause is where the annual site breaks. A guest who stays the year and fixes a deck or a screen room to the unit has left the road-ready exception, so the elevation rules apply. Pull the flood map for every low site, then read the annual roster against it before pricing year-round revenue on those pads.