TheMcDowellNews reports last month the Marion City Council in Marion, North Carolina adopted new regulations for manufactured homes sited on individual lots within the city, requiring them to have siding and roofing to make them blend in with neighborhood site-built homes. Additionally, no manufactured home is allowed within 300 feet of an historic landmark, nor within 100 feet of a flood plain. While no one objected at that meeting, at the Planning Board meeting last Thurs. Aug. 3, some 30 MH dealers, landlords and real estate agents protested that the new measure discriminates against many who live in manufactured housing on fixed incomes, hindering affordable housing in a county that is already economically challenged, and infringes on private property rights. The new rules do not apply to homes in communities, existing homes, or modular homes. MHProNews has learned the Planning Board asked for input from people in the industry to revise the regulations before their next meeting Aug. 21.
