Port Wentworth council imposes six-month moratorium on new mobile homes

Port Wentworth, Ga. — The Port Wentworth City Council voted unanimously April 16 to impose a six-month moratorium on the acceptance of permit applications or plans for mobile or manufactured homes and mobile/manufactured home communities in any zoning district.

City Manager Steve Davis told the council the city’s current ordinance restricts mobile home communities but does not address individual mobile homes in residential districts, creating a regulatory gap. “It restricts any new mobile home for 6 months,” Davis said during the discussion. Councilman Thomas Barbee asked whether the moratorium would prevent any new mobile homes from entering the community; Davis confirmed it would apply for a six-month period.

Mayor Pro Tem Gabrielle Nelson moved the resolution; Councilman Thomas Barbee seconded. The motion passed with a unanimous vote from the six council members present: Gabrielle Nelson, Thomas Barbee, ArtLise Alston-Cone, Mark Stephens, Rufus Bright and Shawn Randerwala.

The resolution places a temporary halt on processing or accepting permit applications and plans related to mobile or manufactured homes and communities while the city reviews the ordinance language to address the identified gap. The council adopted the moratorium as a standalone resolution; the meeting proceeded to other business and then to executive session.

Clarifying details from the meeting: the moratorium duration was stated as six months; the stated legal gap is that the existing ordinance explicitly restricts mobile home communities but does not address individual mobile homes in residential zoning districts. The resolution text and any resulting ordinance changes were not detailed in the transcript and therefore are not reported here as finalized.