Council to vote today on Scott City's mobile home age restrictions

The Scott City Council will vote on an ordinance today that may produce a rare split vote on the council.

Tonight council members will vote on whether to relax restrictions for a period of two years on the age of mobile homes brought into the city.

Under current city ordinance, mobile homes must be 10 years old or newer to be brought into city limits. The new ordinance would allow mobile homes as old as 1984 into the city, as long as those structures meet standards set by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the city's own occupancy standards.

The changes would take effect immediately, and expires March 5, 2009. All other city rules governing mobile homes, such as lot size and setbacks, would remain the same.

A motion to put the ordinance on the table passed last month by a 5-2 vote, with Ward 3 Councilman Kirk Lewis and newly appointed Ward 4 Councilman Rob Henderson voting against.

Most council members expect the vote to remain the same, saying they haven't changed the way they'll vote from the motion to the ordinance.

And the feedback some council members are hearing from people in their wards is framed by their own vote.

Property values

Lewis said he's talked to a few people in his ward about the issue, and like him they don't support relaxing the 10-year rule, even if the situation is temporary. His constituents are concerned about their property values if homes older than 10 years are allowed into the city, and Lewis said he'll vote against the ordinance.

Supporters of the measure say property values shouldn't be of concern -- that the ordinance will have the effect of increasing property values.

"This is going to take something bad and make it better," said Ward 4 Councilman Norman Brant.

The intention of the ordinance, Brant said, is to allow people with mobile homes built before 1984 to replace the structures with newer structures that are more aesthetically pleasing but still affordable. The ordinance language itself acknowledges "it is cost prohibitive for many owners to replace non-HUD certified mobile homes with a mobile home manufactured not less than 10 years prior to placement."

Brant said people in his ward who have discussed the issue with him misunderstood the ordinance and thought mobile homes of any age could be placed on lots in the city under the proposal.

Talk of such an ordinance originated out of Ward 2 Councilman John Crail's district. Local developer Richard Brawley approached the council late last year, saying he'd like to replace mobile homes in an area south of Main Street and immediately east of Interstate 55, but the 10-year rule made replacing the old mobile homes cost prohibitive. Crail then started talk among council members about relaxing the 10-year rule, and Brawley continued to make his case.

Like Brant, Crail said his constituents who understand the proposal's purpose like the idea, and so does he.

"I'm all for anything that's gong to make the town look better," Crail said.

Crail said some Scott City residents have the perception that relaxing the 10-year rule is a move being taken only to benefit certain people, like Brawley. However, Crail said the new rules will apply to the entire city, not just one area or one person.

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182