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Municipal Regulation of Mobile Homes
Municipal Regulation of
Mobile Homes
JAMES A. COON LOCAL GOVERNMENT TECHNICAL SERIES
NEW YORK STATE
David A. Paterson
Governor
DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Lorraine A. Cortés-Vázquez
Secretary of State Publication Date: December 1999
Reprint Date: January 2008
NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DIVISION OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT SERVICES
ONE COMMERCE PLAZA
99 WASHINGTON AVE
10 FLOOR, SUITE 1015
th
ALBANY, NEW YORK 12231-0001
(518) 473-3355
http://www.dos.state.ny.us CONTENTS
(Page)
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Federal and State Regulation of Mobile Homes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Federal Manufactured Housing Act of 1974. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
State Enforcement of Federal Construction and Installation Standards. . . . . . . . . . 2
State Agency Oversight of Mobile Homes in Structural Hazard Areas. . . . . . . . . . 2
State Oversight of Mobile Home Parks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Municipal Regulation of Mobile Homes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Defining "Mobile Home".. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Municipal Options for Regulation of Mobile Homes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Free Standing Authority. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Zoning Authority. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Special Use Permits. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Subdivision Review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Site Plan Review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Some Dos and Donts of Mobile Home Regulation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
A Municipality May Not Purposely Prohibit Mobile Homes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
No Consent of Adjoining Property Owners. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Minimum Square Footage Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Minimum Lot Size Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Restrictions on the Location of Mobile Homes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Mobile Homes as Farm Worker Housing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Mobile Home Permit System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Mobile Home Parks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Regulatory Mechanisms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Assessment and Taxation of Mobile Homes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Mobile Homes as Nonconforming Uses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Elimination of Nonconforming Mobile Homes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Endnotes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
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Municipal Regulation of
Mobile Homes
INTRODUCTION
Mobile homes have been a housing option in New York State for more than sixty years. Mobile
homes first appeared in New Yorks case law in 1939, when the court held that a regulation requiring
a permit for any occupied trailer on a private lot for more than 48 hours was invalid because it was
an over extension of the municipality's police power. The Great Depression had forced many people
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to find inexpensive living quarters, and the court was hesitant to allow strict regulation of affordable
housing.
Mobile homes continue to be an affordable housing option. In the northeast in 1980, a new single
family home cost an average of $69,500.00. By 1997, this had increased to $190,000.00. Between
1980 and 1997, the cost of an existing single family home rose from $60,800.00 to $145,100.00. In
contrast, the average price for a mobile home was $18,500.00 in 1980, and $43,900.00 in 1997.
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Mobile homes have changed in ways other than
price increases. For one thing, they are more and
more frequently referred to as manufactured
housing. They also have moved away from
rudimentary living space to more lavish structures
providing all the comforts of a stick built home. At
the same time as offering price competition, they
may be installed easily and quickly, and require
little or no interior finishing work prior to
occupation. This makes mobile homes an
affordable and attractive form of housing for many, on either individual lots or in parks. Regardless
of any negative opinions concerning mobile homes, they are a reality of our landscape. How they fit
into this landscape is primarily up to local governments as they define the term mobile home and
exercise an array of regulatory powers granted to them. The purpose of this component of the Local
Government Technical Series produced by the Department of State is to provide communities with
an overview of the issues surrounding this increasingly popular housing option. Before embarking
upon an in depth examination of mobile home regulation by local governments as a land use, it is
worth while to briefly discuss federal and state regulation of mobile homes.
FEDERAL AND STATE REGULATION OF MOBILE HOMES
Federal Manufactured Housing Act of 1974
Whether referred to as mobile homes or manufactured housing, it was in response to the high number
of personal injuries and deaths resulting from defects in dwellings of this type that the United States
Congress adopted the Federal Manufactured Housing Act in 1974, which regulates the construction 2
and safety of manufactured housing. Congress gave the Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) the authority to develop a nationwide construction code intended to reduce
insurance costs and property damage, and to improve the quality and durability of manufactured
housing. Federal law defines manufactured home as:
...[A] structure, transportable in one or more sections, which, in traveling mode, is eight body
feet or more in width or forty body feet or more in length, or, when erected on site, is three
hundred twenty or more square feet, and which is built on a permanent chassis and designed
to be used as a dwelling with or without a permanent foundation when connected to the
required utilities, and includes the plumbing, heating, air conditioning, and electrical systems
contained therein... 42 U.S.C. § 5402(6).
Implementing federal regulations became effective July 15, 1976. Mobile homes manufactured after
that date must display a HUD Seal or data plate to verify their proper construction. Municipalities
may regulate mobile homes without a data plate differently than those with the plate. However, if
a pre-1976 home can pass the structural, electrical and other required inspections, it must be allowed
wherever similarly-sized HUD certified homes are allowed. Municipalities may not make a
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distinction based on the age of any homes which have a HUD seal, such as only allowing mobile
homes less than five years old to be placed on individual lots.
State Enforcement of Federal Construction and Installation Standards
The Department of State has been designated as the state administrative agency (SAA) that works
in cooperative agreement with the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
As an SAA, the Department of States Division of Code Enforcement and Administration monitors
the design and production of manufactured homes in the state for consistency with HUD construction
standards. In addition, the SAA investigates consumer complaints regarding the performance of the
home.
The New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code (9 N.Y.C.R.R. Part 1220) provides
that manufactured homes and mobile homes are to be constructed and installed in accordance with
regulations adopted by the Federal government. The SAA has found that the most prevalent code
problem encountered by manufactured home owners is improper installation. To combat this
problem, they recommend that the municipal code enforcement officer perform three inspections
when a mobile home will be placed on a lot. First, the site should be inspected prior to installation
to ensure that it was properly prepared. Second, during installation the code officer should check
the manufactures manual against the pier locations. Finally, after installation the code officer
should check to make sure the electrical and plumbing connections were properly made.
State Agency Oversight of Mobile Homes in Structural Hazard Areas
Due to the categorization of mobile homes as moveable structures designed and constructed to be
readily relocated with minimum disruption of their intended use,