02-09-1983 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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the minimum roof pitch does not exclude manufactured housing. According to John Farmer, the normal roof pitch of manufactured homes is slightly under 3/12, needed to allow such structures to be transported under interstate highway bridges. OPTIONAL ORDINANCE LANGUAGE After removing language from your zoning ordinance that prohibits manufactured homes from locating in residential districts, you may want to add some new language to make sure that the manufactured homes you get are what you want. The removal of discriminatory ordinance language, as noted above, may in effect permit any type of manufactured home to be located in your residential zoning district: old or new, short or long, narrow or wide, with or without a basement. It is up to your community to decide whether such a full range of manufactured housing is to be allowed in all districts, or whether some reasonable, nondiscriminatory restrictions will be applied. Old Versus New The definition (see page 1) of a manufactured home is very broad. It may be argued that it includes structures built before HUD certification was required in 1976, and those built before state building code construction was required in 1972. Many communities may well be very concerned about permitting pre -1972 built manufactured homes to locate in their single - family neighborhoods. Since such structures did not have to meet state building code requirements, they may pose a health and safety threat that local jurisdictions have the right to control. The problem of old versus new manufactured homes can be addressed by adopting a definition for "manufactured home" that includes a requirement it must be HUD certified. Structural Dimensions Mention "manufactured home" and in many minds the term conjures up the image of an 8 -foot wide and 40 -foot long old fashioned mobile home, stark and unattractive. New double -wide and multi - sectional manufactured homes, on the other hand, are being made to resemble closely stick -built single -fa ily homes. Their bulk and types of facade allow them to "fit" into residential neighborhoods. One way to ensure that such fits do occur is to establish dimensional requirements for all or some of the residential zoning districts. Most zoning ordinances contain requirements for setbacks and building heights. Some contain requirements for minimum square footage. Ordinances rarely address the dimensions of the structures. Communities can add length and width requirements to their district require- ments to prevent the location of single -wide manufactured homes in all or some residential districts. Rather than developing a set of arbitrary standards, it is suggested that communities examine current stick built building dimensions in each residential zoning district and develop standards based on established practice. The new dimension standards must be applied to all fuure stick -built as well as manufactured homes. While some communities may want to limit the acceptance of manufactured homes i to double -wides and sectionals in all residential districts, others interested rr