Moratorium remains in place for manufactured homes

The city has issued a temporary moratorium on the placement of manufactured homes while Yoakum city officials revisit zoning regulations and consider long-term guidelines for their future use.

“We had a couple of locations that people made complaints about,” City Mayor Carl O’ Neill said. “We decided that we need to look at the zoning ordinance.”

City officials are currently in the process of researching policies in neighboring municipalities to see how they handle manufactured housing. According to O’ Neill, a decision on any revised ordinances is expected sometime in September.

“We’re surveying adjoining cities and seeing what they have and comparing that,” O’ Neill said. “Hopefully in September we’ll make a decision on the ordinances and the guidelines we want to put in place for manufactured homes.”

At the center of the city’s review are questions about compatibility with existing neighborhoods, construction standards and storm resilience. The mayor emphasized the city’s desire to make a decision that is both “right” and “fair” for all residents.

“We’re looking at comparable construction,” O’ Neill said. “Do we want to stick a manufactured home in that same locale as, say brick homes? We’re also looking at whether the manufactured homes need to be closer to a pier-andbeam foundation, or if placing them on a slab qualifies.”

Another consideration is whether certain types of manufactured homes can withstand extreme weather events, such as hurricanes.

“We’re looking at what kind of manufactured homes we allow,” O’ Neill said.

“ We also look at things like if a manufactured home can sustain a hurricane.”

The city has had several comments on the posting of the moratorium. “The comments were based on the two locations of the manufactured homes,” O’ Neill said.

“Some questioned if our zoning allowed that and it did. We will take a harder look to see if we need to adjust the zoning.”

The zoning currently allows mobile homes but not manufactured homes.

“A manufactured home is built somewhere and brought in through pieces or halves, particularly a double-wide,” O’ Neill said. “They build it and transport it. A mobile home is usually just pulled in and is one complete unit to bring in.”

The moratorium will remain in place until city officials finalize any zoning updates, likely in early fall. There will be public hearings on this once it’s finalized.

“ We're working through this and going to get it taken care of in the coming months,” O’ Neill said. “By September, additional details will be provided and we’ll be making decisions.”