Planning commission approves ordinance to allow mobile homes in parks, adds building-permit checkbox to zoning-clearance form

HUNTINGTON — At a May 2025 Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, commissioners voted to approve Ordinance 1-2025, a change to the city’s Title IX zoning and subdivision regulations that formalizes standards for bringing mobile homes into existing mobile-home parks. The commission also approved a revised zoning-clearance form that adds a checkbox to indicate a county building permit has been obtained or is in process.

The commission’s action follows several months of discussion about how to admit mobile homes into parks while ensuring setbacks, addresses, and other site requirements are documented. "I like the way that Ordinance 1-2025 reads — I think it's what we discussed," one commissioner said during the meeting, and moved that the commission approve the ordinance and forward it to City Council for review.

Commissioners said the ordinance text and an accompanying zoning-clearance form were designed to ensure staff and reviewers receive consistent, complete applications. A commissioner summarized the clearance form’s role: it captures the park’s signature, property address, owner name and required setbacks so that applications are not accepted without those elements. The commission agreed to add a small, explicit checkbox on the form to show whether a county building permit has been secured, aligning the local zoning step with the county permitting requirement.

The commission took a roll-call-style confirmation and the chair announced the ayes carried; the ordinance will be presented to the City Council at its next meeting for further consideration. Commissioners also approved the revised zoning-clearance form with the building-permit checkbox, saying the item will help prevent incomplete submittals and clarify the approval path between city zoning clearance and county building-permit review.

In closing, commissioners discussed planning future work, including a chapter-by-chapter review of Title IX (zoning and subdivision) and possible future consideration of nuisance and animal-control ordinances; they also noted historical-register status can limit options for some vacant or deteriorated properties. The commission adjourned after completing the agenda.