County manager proposes zoning changes to ease manufactured‑home permitting, create new MHU‑2 classification

County Manager Thomas Weaver proposed a set of zoning changes intended to simplify permitting for manufactured homes and to create a new MHU‑2 mobile‑home subdivision classification.

Under Weaver's proposal, manufactured homes would be permitted by right in Rural Residential (RR) and Agricultural (A‑1) zones, eliminating the current routine requirement for conditional‑use permits (CUPs) in many cases. Weaver also proposed a new MHU‑2 zone modeled on existing mobile‑home subdivisions with a suggested minimum lot size of 1 to 2 acres and a typical minimum subdivision size of five lots; MHU‑2 would permit local regulation of paved roads, setbacks and lot widths.

"It would eliminate the issues with having mobile homes put into existing mobile subdivisions," Weaver said, explaining that the change is intended to keep manufactured homes out of existing subdivision lots that do not meet RR/A‑1 minimums while allowing owners on 5 acres or more to place manufactured housing without a CUP. The proposal would retain CUP review for used mobile homes in MHU‑1 and for other special cases such as stick‑built homes on substandard lots.

Weaver said the county could consider reducing the A‑1 minimum lot from 20 acres to 10 acres, a change some neighboring counties have adopted, and that creating MHU‑2 would allow the Commission to set development standards. The proposal was discussed during the May 26 work session and staff indicated the item could appear on a future meeting agenda for formal consideration.