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In the scheme of things a few feet here and a few feet there might not seem to matter much – unless they violate county code.
Some manufactured home parks, such as Sea Air Village near Rehoboth Beach, have run into issues with county regulations regarding the required distance between units.
Lots in most older parks are small – typically about 1,000 square feet smaller than the lots of today. The lots are large enough to fit the homes of the 1960s and 1970s, but most of the newer manufactured homes are larger and wider.
The placement of newer, larger manufactured homes creates problems with the county requirement that 20 feet of space must be maintained between structures on side and back lots. Sheds are also included in the space requirement.
As old manufactured homes are replaced with new ones – many times double-wide homes - the county board of adjustment has been hit with a series of variance requests – five so far from Sea Air Village for relief from the 20-foot requirement. Two variances for vacant lots have already been approved and three variances are pending, said Cindy Surface, Sea Air community manager.
In addition, some larger mobile homes will likely exceed another county regulation that applies only to manufactured home parks.
Structures on lots, including homes, porches, steps and sheds, cannot exceed 35 percent of the total square footage of the lot.
Sea Air opened in the mid-1960s before the county had its codes in place and long before there were double-wide manufactured homes. All existing nonconforming violations were grandfathered in, but today, when any change is made to the use of a lot, the existing regulations apply.
Two associations disagree
On Monday, Sept. 8, the county board of adjustment discussed requests for variances on three lots in Sea Air. Variances range from one foot to six feet. The board tabled all three requests to the Monday, Sept. 22 meeting.
And in an odd twist, the two homeowners’ associations in the park disagree over granting the variances. One, the Sea Air Homeowners Association with President Jeanne Sisk, wants the county to deny requests that would lower the distance between structures.
The other, the Homeowners Association of Sea Air Village with President Brad Bamberger, supports the addition of newer, larger, more modern homes that take up more space on the lots.
Sisk said placing the homes closer than 20 feet to one another creates problems with potential fire hazards and privacy issues. “By the time steps, decks and porches are added they are right up against one another,” she said. “And there are mobiles that will fit on these lots.”
Paul Enterline, an attorney representing the Sea Air Homeowners Association, suggested that when lots become vacant in parks such as Sea Air, it offers a chance for park owners to combine lots to allow for larger manufactured homes.
Bamberger said more and more people with families are purchasing manufactured homes because they offer affordable housing. “The new mobiles are larger because people want three bedrooms. The days of the 12-to-14-foot mobiles are gone,” he said.
The two associations also disagree over how sheds, a major source of controversy, should be considered under county regulations.
Sisk contends that sheds should not be considered as structures under county code. All existing sheds in the park have been grandfathered in, but if a shed is added or replaced it falls under the 20-foot requirement as well as the 35-percent requirement.
Bamberger said sheds should be considered. “They should follow requirements,” he said.
Bamberger’s group formed within the past two years.
Sisk’s group has been around a lot longer. Sisk has been president since the early 1990s, and she has been on the front line of manufactured homeowners’ issues for nearly two decades.
Surface, who manages the park, said she doesn’t get involved in the political aspects involved with county regulations. “If those who are politically inclined want to make some changes, that’s fine. I know there is a movement to have sheds excluded,” she said. “My mindset is whatever the rules and regulations are, that’s what I’m going to do.”
The discussion spilled over into the Sussex County Council meeting Sept. 9, when Lawrence Lank, director of planning and zoning, led a workshop on possible changes in the county’s code relating to lot coverage and shed placement in mobile home parks.
County council members briefly discussed the two issues, but because the meeting had already taken up nearly five hours, it was decided to place the issues back on another agenda.
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It’s all about the percentages in older mobile home parks
Lawrence Lank, director of Sussex County planning and zoning, said just about anything done on a lot in some of the county’s older manufactured home parks affects the 35-percent lot coverage requirement. He said there are at least 1,000 small lots of 4,000 square feet or smaller in the county that are considered nonconforming. The average lot in a county park today is at least 5,000 square feet.
“With the smaller lots, putting down a double-wide home exceeds 35 percent,” Lank said.
And it’s not just the home that is counted in the 35-percent rule – it’s all structures, even steps and sheds, on the lot. All combined, the square footage of all structures cannot exceed 35 percent of the size of the lot.
Lank said with a 4,000-square foot lot, 35 percent coverage would allow for 1,400 square feet of structure space. Lank said many double-wides are at least 1,440 square feet without added steps, sheds, porches or decks. Even the larger single-wide homes are about 1,250 square feet, which leaves 150 square feet for any additions.
The 35-percent requirement applies only to manufactured home parks and to no other zones in unincorporated areas of the county.
On a 5,000-square-foot lot, there is 1,750 square feet of building area, which allows 310 square feet for other structures such as steps, sheds or decks, Lank said.
Compare that to a regular 5,000-square-foot residential lot that would offer 2,800 square feet of buildable area, Lank said.
“Some homeowners have expressed an interest that we eliminate the 35 percent rule in manufactured home communities since we don’t have it anywhere else in the county,” Lank said.
Although a vote was not taken during a Sept. 9 workshop, county council members did not seem to favor a change in the ordinance.
“Some lots just will not accommodate certain things. This is a choice people make,” Councilman George Cole said.
Patty Weyl, a resident of Bay City Mobile Home Park on Long Neck Road, said she was opposed to any change in the ordinance. She said the placement of doublewides on small lots with no consideration for water runoff issues is a concern. She said the 35-percent requirement was necessary to allow for proper stormwater management. “Most lots are well over 35 percent and some are as high as 70 percent,” she said.
Weyl said there are at least 50 homes in the park experiencing stormwater run-off problems relating to lot coverage.
Several other manufactured homeowners who attended the meeting did not stay long enough to comment at the workshop. After sitting through three hours of the five-hour meeting, they left.
How much difference does 35% make?
On a regular lot:
5,000 sq. ft. =
2,800 sq. ft. buildable area
On a manufactured housing lot:
5,000 sq. ft. =
1, 750 sq. ft. buildable area
(allows 300 sq. ft. for steps, sheds and decks)
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