|
Changes in the works for area mobile homes
By Krista Goerte
Published February 27, 2010
A proposed revamp to the City of Paris mobile home and mobile home park ordinances should not affect properties already here, but mobile home parks can expect to tidy surroundings a bit.
That’s the analysis Shawn Napier, director of engineering, planning and development, gives of proposed revisions.
A first reading and lengthy discussion on the proposed ordinance took place at a Monday meeting with a second reading and discussion at an upcoming meeting.
While changes are being made, overall, the new ordinance will not have a major effect on manufactured homes already in the area, or new ones that are moved to the area, Napier said last week.
“We’re basically excluding all of the existing mobile home parks from having to come into compliance with anything requiring a license,” Napier said at the Monday council meeting. “They are grandfathered in. But as far as the maintenance of their roadways, the overall looks, aesthetics of their parks, that’s one thing I think we should probably take into consideration, of having that ability to go in and be able to make those guys clean up, fix their potholes, and just clean up in general.”
Major changes to the ordinance include: Keeping the existing process for permitting HUD Code Manufactured houses except changing the term “mobile homes” with “HUD-Code Manufactured Homes”; grandfathering existing mobile home parks with no requirement for a park to comply with the proposed ordinance; adding a section on skirting to the ordinance; and requiring an office or park manager to keep track of tenants and report to the city once a year.
The proper term for a mobile home built after June of 1974 is a HUD (Housing and Urban Development) Code Manufactured Home, rather than a mobile home, Napier said. The new ordinance is to address the issue of recreational vehicles (RVs) in manufactured home parks, but will have no immediate effect on them. The ordinance proposes to grandfather current manufactured home parks, meaning that RV’s currently housed in a manufactured home park will be able stay in the park. However, the ordinance is also proposing that manufactured home parks keep track of the businesses’ tenants and turn them into the City by Dec. 15 of each year. The information submitted is to include the number of RVs in the park. As proposed by the ordinance, as an RV moves out of the park, it must be replaced with a HUD Code Manufactured home, not another RV. Requiring an office manager to keep track of tenants is also proposed for taxing, water billing and police and emergency purposes. A set fee, $200 specific use fee and an additional $100 permit fee, which includes inspection for a home moving into an SF3 specific use area, are also proposed. Napier said these fees basically cover postage costs. Manufactured home parks will be required to comply with and keep up with certain changes in the code, including putting skirting on homes and possibly putting in or maintaining better lighting and repairing and maintaining streets. Council member Rhonda Rogers said at the Monday meeting since the issue of the manufactured home parks had come up, she has driven most of the streets, and was surprised at their poor repair as well as a lack of good lighting. “Some of them I could barely get through,” Rogers said. “It was pitiful. Some of their roads were in really sad shape. “If we could just get them to do something about their streets, their interior streets, I would be a lot happier,” she said. “I know that people living there probably aren’t paying huge amounts for lot rents, but it’s not fair to them not to at least have a street that they can drive on.” Napier said he would like to see the maintenance section of the ordinance not grandfathered in. Maintenance includes keeping an insect-free, and weed free environment, and also maintaining the roads. Adding skirting to existing manufactured houses, without grandfathering existing trailers, was also discussed. “Some of them may be skirted, some of them may not be skirted, but also, the one (park) we talked about in west Paris, where you’ve got 95 percent of them that are travel trailers and not mobile homes or HUD Code Manufactured housing, it’s a totally different issue,” Napier said. “We don’t know how to address that part.” The amendments to the code are also proposing changes to the city’s zoning ordinance to designate zoning districts for HUD Code Manufactured homes and parks and providing for a specific use permit requirement for HUD Code Manufactured home use in a One-Family Dwelling (SF3) zoning district, Napier said. The council asked in the case of a manufactured house moving into a SF3 specific use area, not a park, it be treated like any other zoning case in the city; every property owner within 200 feet of the manufactured home would be notified of the proposed zoning change, and have an opportunity to speak at a city meeting.
Share |
Save |
Mail |
Print |
Letter
|
|
 |
|
|
