2005 Maine Code - §4358 — Regulation of manufactured housing

Title 30-A: MUNICIPALITIES AND COUNTIES (HEADING: PL 1987, c. 737, Pt. A, §2 (new))
  Part 2: MUNICIPALITIES (HEADING: PL 1987, c. 737, Pt. A, §2 (new))
    Subpart 6-A: PLANNING AND LAND USE REGULATION (HEADING: PL 1989, c. 104, Pt. A, §45 (new))
      Chapter 187: PLANNING AND LAND USE REGULATION (HEADING: PL 1989, c. 104, Pt. A, §45 (new))
        Subchapter 3: LAND USE REGULATION (HEADING: PL 1989, c. 104, Pt. A, §45 (new))
          
§4358. Regulation of manufactured housing
      1. Definitions. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms have the following meanings.
   
A. "Manufactured housing" means a structural unit or units designed for occupancy and constructed in a manufacturing facility and transported, by the use of its own chassis or an independent chassis, to a building site. The term includes any type of building that is constructed at a manufacturing facility and transported to a building site where it is used for housing and may be purchased or sold by a dealer in the interim. For purposes of this section, 2 types of manufactured housing are included. Those 2 types are:   
(1) Those units constructed after June 15, 1976, commonly called "newer mobile homes," that the manufacturer certifies are constructed in compliance with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development standards, meaning structures transportable in one or more sections, that in the traveling mode are 14 body feet or more in width and are 750 or more square feet, and that are built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as dwellings, with or without permanent foundations, when connected to the required utilities including the plumbing, heating, air conditioning or electrical systems contained in the unit.  
(a) This term also includes any structure that meets all the requirements of this subparagraph except the size requirements and with respect to which the manufacturer voluntarily files a certification required by the Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and complies with the standards established under the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974, United States Code, Title 42, Section 5401, et seq.; and  
(2) Those units commonly called "modular homes" that the manufacturer certifies are constructed in compliance with Title 10, chapter 951, and rules adopted under that chapter, meaning structures, transportable in one or more sections, that are not constructed on a permanent chassis and are designed to be used as dwellings on foundations when connected to required utilities, including the plumbing, heating, air-conditioning or electrical systems contained in the unit. [1995, c. 625, Pt. A, §35 (amd).]    
B. "Mobile home park" means a parcel of land under unified ownership approved by the municipality for the placement of 3 or more manufactured homes. [1989, c. 104, Pt. A, §45 (new); Pt. C, §10 (new); c. 506, §1 (amd).]    
B-1. "Mobile home park lot" means the area of land on which an individual home is situated within a mobile home park and which is reserved for use by the occupants of that home. A municipality may require a lot to be designated on a mobile home park plan. [1989, c. 506, §2 (new).]    
C. "Mobile home subdivision or development" means a parcel of land approved by the municipal reviewing authority under subchapter IV for the placement of manufactured houses on individually owned lots. [1989, c. 104, Pt. A, §45 (new); Pt. C, §10 (new).]    
D. "Permanent foundation" means:   
(1) For "newer mobile homes," as defined in paragraph A, subparagraph (1), a foundation that conforms to the installation standards established by the Manufactured Housing Board; or  
(2) For "modular homes," as defined in paragraph A, subparagraph (2), a foundation that conforms to the municipal building code or, in the absence of a municipal building code, a foundation that conforms to the Building Officials and Code Administrators National Code (1990). [1993, c. 487, §1 (rpr).]    
E. "Pitched, shingled roof" means a roof with a pitch of 2 or more vertical units for every 12 horizontal units of measurement and which is covered with asphalt or fiberglass composition shingles or other materials, but specifically excludes corrugated metal roofing material. [1989, c. 104, Pt. A, §45 (new); Pt. C, §10 (new).] [1995, c. 625, Pt. A, §35 (amd).]
      2. Location of manufactured housing. Municipalities shall permit manufactured housing to be placed or erected on individual house lots in a number of locations on undeveloped lots where single-family dwellings are allowed, subject to the same requirements as single-family dwellings, except as otherwise provided in this section.
   
A. For the locations required by this section, municipal ordinances may not require that manufactured housing on individual lots be greater than 14 feet in width, although municipalities may establish design criteria, including, but not limited to, a pitched, shingled roof; a permanent foundation; and exterior siding that is residential in appearance, provided that:   
(1) The requirements do not have the effect of circumventing the purposes of this section; and  
(2) The design requirements may not be used to prevent the relocation of any manufactured housing, regardless of its date of manufacture, that is legally sited within the municipality as of August 4, 1988. [1989, c. 104, Pt. A, §45 (new); Pt. C, §10 (new).]    
B. Providing one or more zones or locations where mobile home parks or mobile home subdivisions or developments are allowed does not constitute compliance with this section. [1989, c. 104, Pt. A, §45 (new); Pt. C, §10 (new).]    
C. This section does not prohibit municipalities from establishing controls on manufactured housing which are less restrictive than are permitted by this section. [1989, c. 104, Pt. A, §45 (new); Pt. C, §10 (new).]    
D. Municipalities may not prohibit manufactured housing, regardless of its date of manufacture, solely on the basis of a date of manufacture before June 14, 1976, or the failure of a unit to have been manufactured in accordance with the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974, United States Code, Title 42, Chapter 70. Municipalities may apply the design standards permitted by this section to all manufactured housing, regardless of its date of manufacture, and may apply reasonable safety standards to manufactured housing built before June 15, 1976, or not built in accordance with the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974, United States Code, Title 42, Chapter 70. [RR 1993, c. 1, §75 (cor).]    
E. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any modular home that meets construction standards for state-certified manufactured homes adopted pursuant to Title 10, section 9042 must be allowed in all zones where other single-family homes are allowed. [1995, c. 199, §1 (amd).] [1995, c. 199, §1 (amd).]
      3. Regulation of mobile home parks. This subsection governs a municipality's regulation of mobile home parks.
   
A. Except as required under Title 38, or an ordinance adopted pursuant to Title 38, a municipality shall not require:   
(1) The size of any mobile home park lot served by a public sewer system to be larger than the smaller of:  
(a) Six thousand five hundred square feet; or  
(b) The area of the smallest residential lot permitted in the municipality;  
(2) The size of any mobile home park lot with on-site subsurface waste water disposal to be larger than 20,000 square feet; or  
(3) The size of any mobile home park lot served by a central on-site subsurface waste water disposal system approved by the Department of Health and Human Services to be larger than 12,000 square feet, provided that a municipality may require that the overall density of the mobile home park be no more than one home for every 20,000 square feet. [1989, c. 104, Pt. A, §45 (new); Pt. C, §10 (new); c. 506, §3 (rpr); 2003, c. 689, Pt. B, §6 (rev).]    
B. A municipality shall not require the overall area of a mobile home park to be greater than the combined area of its mobile home park lots plus:   
(1) The area required for road rights-of-way;  
(2) The area required for buffer strips, if any; and  
(3) For mobile home parks served by a public sewer, an additional area for open space, storage or recreation, as those terms are defined by local ordinances applicable to all residential developments. A municipality shall not require this additional area to be greater than 10% of the combined area of the individual lots within a mobile home park; and  
(4) The area of any setbacks required under Title 38 or an ordinance adopted pursuant to Title 38. [1989, c. 104, Pt. A, §45 (new); Pt. C, §10 (new); c. 506, §3 (rpr).]