APC staff to draft amendment allowing manufactured homes in Clarks Hill; committee forwards positive recommendation

The Tippecanoe County Area Plan Commission’s ordinance and by-law committee on June 4, 2025, heard a staff proposal prompted by a Clarks Hill town resolution to allow manufactured and mobile homes within the incorporated town’s single-family zones with town-board permission. Staff outlined the proposed change to the zoning-permitted-use table and asked the committee whether to send a recommendation to the full APC.

A staff presenter summarized the town resolution and read the code definition used in the amendment: a manufactured home described as “a single dwelling suitable for year-round occupancy, transportable in one or more sections, built on a permanent chassis, and designed to be used with or without a permanent foundation.” Staff told the committee the existing table currently restricts manufactured and mobile homes to unincorporated rural zones and proposed to modify the footnote so the use would be permitted in Clarks Hill by right, with the town board’s permission.

Committee members asked procedural questions about timing and whether a committee recommendation was needed; staff said no amendment has been filed yet and that the proposed text is intended to address the town’s request on a case-by-case basis. The committee moved and seconded a motion to forward the amendment to the full Area Plan Commission with a positive recommendation; the motion carried on a voice vote.

The committee did not adopt ordinance text at this meeting; staff will prepare formal amendment language and the APC will consider the matter at its next hearing.