Lorain council moves zoning amendment on permanently sited modular and manufactured homes to full agenda

Lorain — The Lorain City Council subcommittee discussed a proposed amendment to the city zoning code that would clarify and permit permanently sited modular and manufactured homes placed on permanent foundations, and the council voted to move the ordinance to the regular council agenda.

City planning staff said the change is meant to expand housing typologies while preventing conventional trailer-style units from being used as permanent residences. "This proposed legislation seeks to... expand those housing typologies by clarifying the differences between modular and manufactured homes," said Matt Kushar, Building Housing Plan Director for the City of Lorain.

The ordinance would allow factory-built homes that are affixed to permanent foundations and meet the same construction standards as stick-built homes, rather than permitting transient or trailer-style units. "The intention is to have them factory built and dropped off in pieces onto a permanent fixed foundation and then appear just like it was a stick built home,"…