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Board approves zoning changes allowing replacement of manufactured homes in B‑1 districts
Summary
The Gloucester County Board of Supervisors approved a code amendment that allows legally nonconforming manufactured homes in B‑1 zoning to be replaced with either another manufactured home or a stick‑built home, adds setback clarifications in the Highway Corridor Overlay District and cleans up sign and rezoning effective‑date language.
The Gloucester County Board of Supervisors adopted a zoning‑code amendment that modifies how existing manufactured homes are treated in B‑1 commercial districts and makes related clarifications to setbacks, sign rules and effective dates for rezoning and conditional‑use permits.
County staff presented the amendment, explaining that the change affects about eight properties along Route 17 and one property in Glens. The amendment updates the nonconforming‑structures section to permit the replacement of an existing legally nonconforming manufactured home in B‑1 with either another manufactured home or a stick‑built (site‑built) dwelling. The text also adds a 75‑foot setback in the Highway Corridor Overlay District for most areas of Route 17, clarifies sign setbacks (35 feet for divided highways) and makes rezoning and conditional‑use permits effective the day after board adoption to remove inconsistent language in the ordinance.
During discussion a supervisor asked whether the county’s two‑year abandonment rule for nonperforming dwellings would apply to manufactured homes that sat vacant; staff replied that the two‑year period is set in state code and that the county sometimes works with property owners to avoid unintended loss of use. A county working‑waterfront intern had recommended consideration of extending the two‑year nonperforming time period.
The Planning Commission held a public hearing and voted unanimously (one member absent) to recommend approval; no members of the public spoke against the amendment at the board hearing. The board considered the amendment and adopted the resolution; the clerk recorded affirmative roll‑call votes and the motion carried.
The amendment is intended to reduce conflicting interpretations in the zoning ordinance and provide a clear path for replacing nonconforming manufactured homes while preserving corridor setbacks in areas where Route 17 may be widened in the future.
