Advisory council coalesces around state-level zoning fixes to ease new mobile-home parks

Members of the Mobile/Manufactured Home Advisory Council said Thursday that state-level changes to zoning law are a promising area for common ground to make it easier to build or expand mobile/manufactured-home parks in Connecticut.

"The park owners face resistance from towns when proposing new or expanded parks, and statute 8-30g is often used but seen as adversarial," Council member Liz said while summarizing earlier discussions. She recalled prior suggestions to prevent towns from effectively banning parks, encourage towns to allow parks by right, treat parks as a form of multifamily housing and to explore Attorney General enforcement of anti-discrimination zoning laws.

Why it matters: Members said local rules and infrastructure requirements vary widely across Connecticut towns, which complicates a single statewide solution. Proponents argued that carefully targeted state law could reduce the need for lengthy local approvals and prevent small, organized opposition groups from blocking projects that meet health and safety standards.

Council planners and municipal staff said that practical barriers—public water and sewer availability, on-site wastewater approvals and town-level site plan standards—must be addressed in any uniform statute. Marcia, identified on the council as a planner, said towns differ in capacity and infrastructure: "Some towns have public infrastructure. Some towns do not," and that regulation must account for that variation.

Several members noted a provision in last session's House Bill 5002 that removed a 22-foot width requirement for mobile homes; Council member Rafi said that provision was not controversial and urged park owners and allies to ask House leadership to retain it if the bill or compromise language returns in a special session.

Next steps: Council members agreed to pursue a follow-up drafting process. Rafi recommended a detailed subcommittee or staff-driven effort within the next 30 days to outline specific statutory language for 2026, distinguishing small technical fixes (which could be reintroduced quickly) from broader changes that would require more drafting.

Council context: Members recalled that, in a prior decade, the council asked the Attorney General to challenge town ordinances that unlawfully prohibited mobile-home parks. Some participants suggested reviving that approach if towns continue to adopt exclusionary zoning that conflicts with state statutes.

Ending note: No final bill was adopted by the council. Members asked staff to circulate a detailed agenda for the next meeting and to convene smaller drafting groups where fewer than a quorum participate to avoid open-meeting posting requirements.