The purpose of these regulations is to regulate the location and design of mobile home parks in such a manner as to create neighborhoods designed for long-term residential occupancy, to ensure compatibility with surrounding areas and with the natural environment, and to provide safe, sanitary and attractive living conditions for occupants of mobile homes located in such parks. (back to top)
No building permit shall be granted for the construction of a mobile home park until the Zoning Board of Review shall grant a special-use permit therefore in accordance with the provisions of this ordinance. Upon receipt of a completed application as required by Section 2002, the Zoning Board shall refer two copies of the application to the Middletown Planning Board for site plan review, who shall make a written report to the Zoning Board within 45 days of receipt of the application. The Zoning Board may then hold a public hearing on the application for a special-use permit. Where the decision of the Zoning Board of Review differs from the recommendations of the Planning Board, the reasons therefore shall be clearly stated in writing. (back to top)
An application for a special-use permit to construct a mobile home park shall contain, as a minimum, site plans and supplementary information as required by Section 904, plus the following:
A. A site plan showing the location and dimensions of streets and other roadways; lot or spaces intended for the placement of mobile homes, required buffer zones, recreation areas and open space, and the location and nature of all proposed land uses.
B. Typical lot improvements to include lot dimensions, required yards, setbacks and location of mobile homes, off or on-street parking.
C. A plan or other description indicating all utilities and methods of sewage disposal and water supply.
D. Proposals for garbage and trash removal, and outdoor storage.
E. Evidence of compliance with all appropriate State laws and regulations, particularly those dealing with licensure of mobile home parks.
F. Preliminary architectural plans of any proposed permanent buildings, such as community buildings, recreation halls or service buildings. (back to top)
The following standards of development shall apply to all mobile home parks: (back to top)
A mobile home park shall contain a minimum of ten (10) acres. (back to top)
For purposes of the tract used for general vehicular entrances and exits only, the lot width shall be a minimum of fifty (50) feet; for portions containing mobile home lots and buildings open generally to occupants, the width of the lot shall be a minimum of 250 feet. (back to top)
Along all exterior property lines of a mobile home park, a landscaped buffer zone shall be maintained. Such buffer zone shall be no less than 100 feet wide along all property lines.
Such buffer zone shall be planted, screened, or otherwise maintained in a natural condition in order to provide year-round visual obstruction of the mobile home lots from abutting land and streets. Such buffer zone may be used for recreation of a non-intensive character provided, however, that no structure be located thereon. (back to top)
At least ten (10) percent of the gross land area of the mobile home park shall be reserved for recreational open space uses. Such recreation and open space may be located within the required buffer zone required in Section 2007 above. However, this figure is in addition to any other open areas required by yard provisions or other sections of this Ordinance. (back to top)
All mobile home parks shall have a minimum lot frontage of 50 feet on a public street. (back to top)
Individual mobile home lots, or spaces which are leased as lots, within mobile home parks shall conform to the following requirements:
A. Lot Size. Each individual mobile home lot shall contain a minimum area of six-thousand (6,000) square feet.
B. Lot Width and Depth. The minimum width of each mobile home lot shall be sixty (60) feet and the minimum depth of each lot shall be one-hundred (100) feet.
C. Required Separation Between Mobile Homes. Mobile homes shall be separated from each other and from other buildings by at least thirty (30) feet.
Any accessory structure which has a horizontal area exceeding twenty-five (25) square feet, is attached to a mobile home or located within then (10) feet of a window, and has an opaque top or roof that is higher than the nearest window shall, for purposes of all separation requirements, be considered to be part of the mobile home.
D. Setback. No mobile home shall be located closer than twenty (20) feet to a lot line abutting an internal street. (back to top)
All mobile home parks shall be provided with safe and convenient vehicular access from abutting public streets. Alignment and gradient shall be properly adapted to topography. Each mobile home lot shall have frontage on an internal street.
A. Access. Access to mobile parks shall be designed to minimize congestion and hazards at the entrance and exit and allow free movement of traffic on adjacent streets.
The entrance street connecting the park streets with a public street shall have a minimum street pavement width of thirty-four (34) feet where parking is permitted on both sides, or a minimum street pavement width of twenty-eight (28) feet where parking is limited to one side. Where the primary entrance street is more than 100 feet long and does not provide access to abutting mobile home lots within such distance, the minimum street pavement width may be twenty-four (24) feet, provided parking is prohibited at both sides.
B. Internal Streets. Surfaced streets shall be of an adequate paved width to accommodate anticipated traffic, and in any case shall meet the following minimum requirements:
1. All streets except minor streets - 26 feet.
2. Minor streets, no parking - 24 feet (acceptable only if less than 500 feet long and serving less than twenty-five (25) mobile homes or of any length if one-way and providing access to abutting mobile home lots on one side only.)
3. Dead end streets shall be limited in length to 1,000 feet and shall be provided at the closed end with a turnaround having an outside pavement diameter of at least sixty (60) feet. All surfaced streets shall be constructed in a manner consistent with Section 1301A.
C. Required Off-Street Parking Areas
1. Off-street parking areas shall be provided in all mobile home parks for the use of park occupants and guests. Such areas shall be furnished at the ratio of at least two (2) car spaces for each dwelling unit, and shall be located upon the lot of the mobile home it is intended to serve.
2. Use of joint carports is allowed, provided that no carport shall have an area greater than 450 square feet. (back to top)
The following uses are permitted in any mobile home park:
A. Principal Uses - Mobile homes as defined in Section 2001.
B. Accessory Uses - Uses directly accessory to a mobile home including parking areas, carports, patios and semi- enclosed outdoor storage sheds. Provided, however, that the total floor area of enclosed accessory buildings does not exceed 400 square feet per mobile home.
C. Community buildings, recreation halls, or service buildings intended primarily to serve the residents of the mobile home park.
D. Temporary model homes provided they are used only for display of mobile homes for sale within the mobile home park. Under no circumstances shall any retail sales of mobile homes be permitted in any mobile home park.
E. Administrative offices for the management of the mobile home park, including maintenance and service areas for same. (back to top)
Mobile home parks as permitted in this ordinance are intended for long-term residential occupancy. No lot shall be rented for placement of a mobile home, and no mobile home shall be rented or sold for residential occupancy except for periods of ninety (90) days or more. (back to top)
A. A subdivision of land for the purpose of selling individual lots for the placement and occupancy of mobile homes shall be permitted only in zoning districts where mobile home parks are permitted as provided in Section 602; and
B. Each lot within the subdivision shall contain the land area required for single family homes under the provisions of Section 603 for the zoning district in which it is located; and
C. The subdivision of land shall meet all the procedures and construction requirements of the Rules and Regulations Regarding the Subdivision of Land, Town of Middletown, Rhode Island, March 19, 1980 and subsequent amendments thereto. (back to top)
No mobile home shall be permitted to be used as a dwelling on any individual lot in the Town or Middletown except in a mobile home park as provided in this Article. (back to top)