Manufactured homes ordinance

MANUFACTURED HOMES ORDINANCE

TOWN OF LEVANT, MAINE

ARTICLE 10: PURPOSE
The purpose of this Manufactured Homes Ordinance shall be to assure the comfort, health, safety and general welfare of the people, to protect the environment, to provide for orderly development of a sound and stable community for the residents and property owners of the Town of Levant.
ARTICLE 100: AUTHORITY
This ordinance has been prepared in accordance with the provisions of Title 38, Section 435-449 of the Maine Revised Statues Annotated (M.R.S.A.).
ARTICLE 110 EFFECTIVE DATE:
The effective date of this ordinance shall be the day it is adopted by the vote of the legislative body of the Town of Levant.
ARTICLE 200: APPLICABILITY.
This Ordinance applies to all new and used manufactured homes, modular and other types of manufactured dwellings that will enter the Town of Levant. The ordinance is designed for the safety and health of manufactured homeowners. It is intended to apply to all manufactured homes. However, manufactured home parks, which are now licensed, and all manufactured homes currently on private lots that may not comply with all design and construction standards of this ordinance, shall be deemed acceptable if capable of being maintained and operated in a safe and sanitary condition. This ordinance shall not be construed as relieving the installer of a manufactured home of responsibility for compliance with the manufacturer’s installation instructions, state laws, local ordinances, codes or regulations.
It shall be unlawful for any person to cause or allow any manufactured home located in individual site or in parks to be parked, located, placed, maintained or used for business, living or other purposes on any street, driveway, park, town property or private property within the boundaries of The Town of Levant except in conformance with these regulations
ARTICLE 210 TYPES OF STRUCTURE COVERED
Those units constructed after June 15, 1976, which the manufacturer certifies are constructed in compliance with the HUD standard, meaning structures, transportable in one or more sections, which in the traveling mode, are 12 body feet or more in width or are 480 or more square feet, and which are built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling, with a permanent foundation, when connected to an approved Subsurface Wastewater Disposal System, Water, and electrical Systems contained therein: except that such terms shall include any structure which meet all of the requirements of the paragraph except the size requirements and with respect to which the dealer or owner voluntarily files a certification required by HUD and complies with the standards established under the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974.
ARTICLE 300 SEVERABILITY.
Should any section of this Ordinance be declared by the Courts to be invalid, such decision shall not invalidate any other section or provision of this Ordinance.
ARTICLE 400 CONFLICT WITH OTHER ORDINANCES
This Ordinance shall in no way impair or remove the necessity of compliance with any other state laws, local ordinances, codes or regulations. Where this Ordinance imposes a greater restriction upon the use of the land, buildings, or structure, the provisions of this Ordinance shall prevail.
ARTICLE 500 SITING AND FOUNDATION SYSTEM
All manufactured homes in the Town of Levant shall meet the following design criteria:

1. 
   Placement on a permanent foundation as illustrated within this Ordinance as
   

Detail A1 – Concrete Slab and Detail B1 – Anchoring Details

B. Constructed with a pitched shingled roof with minimum pitch of 4-12.

C. Constructed with exterior siding that is residential in appearance. The terms "permanent foundation" and "pitched, shingled roof" shall have the meaning set forth at 30-A M.R.S.A. section 4358 (1) (D) & (E), as amended. Certified, pursuant to 30-A M.R.S.A. section 4358.
This section is applicable to all new or used manufactured homes that may be located or relocated in the Town of Levant.
510 EXCEPTIONS.
Sites for the installation of manufactured housing to provide temporary relief from fire, flood or other disaster of a period of two years from the date of installation of home.
ARTICLE 600: CLEARANCE
Clearance under any I-beam or channel beam shall be a minimum of twelve (12) inches beneath the lowest member of the main frame.
When the manufactured home is installed on a basement or split entry type foundation over a habitable lower level area, or when more than one-fourth of the area of the manufactured home is installed so that the bottom of the main frame members are more than three (3) feet above ground level, the foundation system shall be designed by a registered professional engineer or architect.
ARTICLE 700: SKIRTING.
Skirting materials shall be of durable material suitable for exterior exposures.
Skirting shall be installed in accordance with the manufacturer’s installation instructions. It shall be secured, as necessary, to assure stability, to minimize vibrations, to minimize susceptibility to wind damage, and to compensate for possible frost heaves. Access opening(s) not less then 18” in any dimension and not less than 3 square feet in area shall be provided and shall be located so that any water supply and sewer drain connection located under the manufactured home are accessible for inspection. Such access panel(s) or door(s) shall not be fastened in a manner requiring the use of a special tool to remove or open same. On site fabrication of skirting shall meet the objectives cited herein.
ARTICLE 800: PLUMBING.
All plumbing shall meet the State of Maine Plumbing Codes. All plumbing permits must be obtained from the Local Plumbing Inspector before placement of a manufactured home on the site.
Each manufactured home site foundation shall provide water and sewer located and arranged to permit attachments to the manufactured home.
ARTICLE 900: PERMITS
No person, firm, corporation or other legal entity shall locate a manufactured home in the Town of Levant or move a manufactured home from one lot or parcel of land to another without a permit from the Code Enforcement Officer.
No manufactured housing may be sited within the Town of Levant without either a bill of sale indicating the name, address, dealer registration number and sales tax certificate number of the person who sold or provided the manufactured housing to the buyer locating such housing in this town; or evidence of certification of payment of the sales tax in accordance with Title 36, M.R.S.A. Section 1760, Subsection 40 and Title 36 M.R.S.A. Section 1952B. A copy of each document required for each housing unit shall be filed with the Code Enforcement Officer prior to the siting of said unit.
Every applicant for a permit shall submit a written application, including a scaled site plan and subsurface wastewater disposal permit (if a new site). A complete State of Maine Certificate of taxes/sewer fees paid on manufactured home (if required) manufactured home information (make, model, year, color, serial Number). If applicant is not the owner or lessee of the property that person shall submit a letter of authorization from the owner or lessee.
Unless located within an approved manufactured home park, a modular or manufactured home, whatever its date of manufacture, must comply with the same setback and minimum lot size requirements as applicable to single-family dwellings in the Town of Levant as outlined in the Land Use Ordinance.
Any type of manufactured home that has been placed illegally upon a tract of land in the town of Levant shall first remove said manufactured home before an application for approval shall be accepted.
ARTICLE 1000: ENFORCEMENT
The Code Enforcement Officer established in the Town of Levant shall have the duty to enforce the provisions of this Ordinance. If the Code Officer finds that any provision of this Ordinance is being violated, he shall notify, in writing, the person responsible for such violation, indicating the nature of the violation and ordering the action necessary to correct it.
ARTICLE 1100: LEGAL ACTION
When the above action does not result in the correction or abatement of the violation or condition, the Municipal Officers, upon notice from the Code Enforcement Officer, are hereby authorized and directed to institute any and all actions and proceedings, either legal or equitable, including seeking injunctions of violations and the imposition of fines, and/or consent agreements, that may be appropriate or necessary to enforce the provisions of this Ordinance in the name of the municipality.