Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

City considering restrictions on manufactured homes

Restrictions could soon be placed on manufactured homes being moved into the city of Gurdon.

According to Gurdon Recorder/Treasurer Tambra Childres, an ordinance will be presented to the Gurdon City Council during its meeting on Monday, June 25, to provide requirements for mobile homes being placed in the city. Existing homes will not be affected, she said.

According to the proposed ordinance, all factory built homes must meet the following requirements to be legally placed in the city:

 The home must have a pitched roof;

 All transport elements must be removed;

 It must be placed on a permanent foundation;

 Exterior walls must be finished to be compatible with other homes in the neighborhood;

 The home must be orientation compatible meaning it must face in the same direction of other homes along the same street:

 It must be underpinned with permanent materials;

 There must be off-street parking as with other single-family dwellings;

 It must be placed on property that joins a city street or on a new and improved street that meets city standards and the lot must be at least 50 by 100 feet in size; and

 The home must be tied down in accordance with Appendix H of the Southern Building Code.

The proposed ordinance goes on to say that a permit must be obtained from the city and a fee of $50 must be paid before any manufactured home can be placed within the city. No manufactured home built before 1990 are specifically prohibited from placement in the city.

The proposed ordinance contains an emergency clause that will make it effective immediately if approved by the council, Childres said.

City officials began considering the creation of the ordinance after hearing concern from citizens that property currently being cleared by the city would be filled up with older mobile homes that do not look any better than the houses just torn down, Childres said. The ordinance is simply an effort by the city to keep the town looking nice.

The ordinance is modeled after a similar ordinance put into place in Arkadelphia after the 1997 tornado that left that city with several empty lots.

We got a copy of it and changed it around to meet our requirements, Childres said.

City officials are hoping to hear more input from residents as they continue to discuss the ordinance, Childres said. She hopes residents will attend the meeting on June 25 when the ordinance will be on the councils agenda.