Covered or enclosed boat and RV storage

A covered space is a roof on columns, open on the sides or walled only along the back. It keeps sun and hail off a boat or a motorhome and leaves the site plan to do most of the work: the pavement, the aisles and the fence. An enclosed space is a bay with walls on three sides and a tall overhead door on the fourth, which means wall panels and a door package sized for the largest vehicle.

The two can be mixed on one site, for example with enclosed bays where they can be seen from the road and canopies behind.

Terrapin Construction Group's May 2026 national benchmarks put covered boat and RV storage at $25 to $55 per gross square foot and enclosed boat and RV storage at $65 to $95. Both are hard costs only; Terrapin excludes land, soft costs, and furniture, fixtures and equipment.

It can, and this is the question to settle before the product mix. Several codes read for this site list outdoor storage of boats and RVs as its own use, or allow it at a self storage site in fewer districts than enclosed units. Georgetown and San Marcos define outdoor self storage as spaces not fully enclosed, which describes a canopy row.

Kerrville (Kerr County)

Kerrville does not list boat or RV storage as its own use, but it expressly lets a mini-storage facility store recreational vehicles, boats and automobiles if the storage area is paved and screened from public view. The site or concept plan must show those areas, and no RV or boat parking or storage is allowed within 50 feet of residential zoning or residentially zoned MU or PD property.

SourceCity of Kerrville, Code of Ordinances, Sec. 60-60(2); Sec. 60-17 Terms defined, read 2026-09-23.

Boerne (Kendall County)

Boerne's use tables list no separate boat or RV storage use. The nearest entries are RV park, outdoor equipment storage (a temporary use in CR and City Property), and oversize vehicle and machinery rental, sales and service (permitted by right in I1, I3 and City Property), whose standards cover boat, marine craft and trailer sales with outdoor storage and display. The mini-warehouse standards bar outdoor storage of any kind on the property, so open boat or RV parking cannot be part of a mini-warehouse.

SourceBoerne's use tables were read; no boat or RV storage use by that name is listed. City of Boerne, Unified Development Code, Sec. 3-7 Permitted use tables; Sec. 3-6.D.15, read 2026-09-23.

New Braunfels (Comal County)

New Braunfels lists "Storage - Exterior storage for boats and recreational vehicles" as its own use. The matrix marks it permitted by right in C-3, C-4, M-1, M-2, MU-B, C-1B, M-1A and M-2A, and blank elsewhere. The district lists match except C-4, whose list omits it, and the code says the district list governs when the two conflict.

SourceCity of New Braunfels, Code of Ordinances, Chapter 144 Zoning, Secs. 144-4.2, 144-3.3, 144-3.4 and 144-1.4, read 2026-09-23.

Georgetown (Williamson County)

Georgetown covers boat and RV storage through its "Self Storage, Outdoor" use, defined as a fenced, access-controlled area with individual spaces, not fully enclosed, leased for storing motor vehicles, trailers, boats and similar items. Table 5.04.010 allows it with limitations in the Industrial (IN) district and by City Council Special Use Permit in General Commercial (C-3); it is not allowed elsewhere in the table. The code separately defines vehicle storage as long-term storage (over 72 hours) of vehicles, typically tow-aways or impound yards.

SourceCity of Georgetown Unified Development Code, Sections 5.04.010 and 16.02, read 2026-09-23.

Marble Falls (Burnet County)

Marble Falls lists no separate boat or RV storage use. Its Storage Yard use (conditional in BP, restricted in IN) is defined as outdoor storage of only operable equipment and construction materials temporarily stored for eventual off-site use; the definition does not mention boats or RVs. The only outdoor storage the code allows at a self-storage site is in the IN General Industrial district, where screened outdoor storage areas are regulated and wrecked or inoperable vehicles are barred; in GC self storage must be fully enclosed.

SourceCity of Marble Falls, Code of Ordinances, Appendix B Development Code, Table 3.1.6, Table 3.2.1.E, Division 14.3 Definitions, read 2026-09-23.

San Marcos (Hays County)

San Marcos defines "Self Storage, Outdoor" as individual storage spaces, not fully enclosed, leased for storing motor vehicles, trailers, boats and similar items, so boat and RV storage falls inside the self storage use. Table 5.1 has a single Self Storage row covering both indoor and outdoor, conditional only in the Commercial (CM) district. The code separately says general outdoor storage is accessory only and not a primary use, pointing to Section 5.1.7.7 for self storage.

SourceCity of San Marcos Development Code (Ord. No. 2026-08, effective June 16, 2026), Section 5.1.7.7 (page 5:35) and the accessory Outdoor Storage provision in Chapter 5, read 2026-09-23.

Either way, the drive aisles are wider and the spaces deeper than on a site built for household storage, because the largest vehicle has to back in. Several codes read require paving for outdoor vehicle storage: Kerrville at a mini-storage site, Georgetown for outdoor self storage, Burnet for outdoor areas in its C-3 district, and Boerne requires all paving at a mini-warehouse to be concrete. Enclosed bays add door clearance and slab edges to every space.

The driveway and layout guide covers the entrance and the aisles, and the boat and RV storage page covers the building.

SourcesCity of Kerrville, Code of Ordinances, Sec. 60-60(2); Sec. 60-17 Terms defined, read 2026-09-23; City of Georgetown Unified Development Code, Section 5.04.020 (Commercial Use Limitations), subsection Q, read 2026-09-23; City of Burnet, Code of Ordinances, Chapter 118 Zoning, Secs. 118-47, 118-64, read 2026-09-23; City of Boerne, Unified Development Code, Sec. 3-6.D.15 Mini-warehouse, read 2026-09-23.