(A) General. Before developing a manufactured home park, the applicant must apply for and receive a special use permit. The applicant shall prepare an application for review by the Board of Adjustment and other applicable government agencies that complies with division (B) below, rather than the requirements found in §§ 154.010. Before developing or expanding a manufactured home park, the property or parcel shall be zoned MHP (Manufactured Home Park), as this is the only zoning district in which this type of use is allowed. Manufactured home parks shall comply with the provisions set forth in this subchapter, whether the subject is new development, expansion, operational or maintenance.
(B) Manufactured home park development application. The following shall be adhered to when preparing and applying for a special use permit for a manufactured home park:
(1) Required meeting with Zoning Administrator. Prior to submittal of an application for a special use permit to develop a manufactured home park, the owner and/or developer shall schedule a meeting with the Zoning Administrator to discuss the proposed development. The Zoning Administrator shall have discretion to invite additional county officials to the meeting.
(2) Boundary survey. The developer shall have prepared by a registered land surveyor a boundary survey, which shall meet all requirements for recordation in the office of the Register of Deeds.
(3) Detailed development plan. The application shall contain a detailed development plan meeting the requirements of this division on a sheet not less than 18 inches by 24 inches drawn at a scale of sufficient size to accurately and clearly show all required information dictated by this subchapter including additional information as required by division (B)(4) below. The plan shall be recorded, with, or as part of, the boundary survey as required by division (C) below. Approved detailed development plans for manufactured home parks must be recorded in the office of the Register of Deeds within six months following approval or lose approval status. The detailed development plan shall include:
(a) The boundary of the property to be developed;
(b) The names and addresses of adjoining property owners;
(c) The location of existing streets, buildings, railroads, transmission lines, sewers, bridges, culverts, drainpipes, and easements, to the extent that these may be ascertained from a field inspection of the property;
(d) Municipal boundaries, extraterritorial boundary lines, township lines, zoning district classifications;
(e) The name of the fire district serving the property;
(f) Basic geographic information about the site, including general topography, proximity to streams, susceptibility to flooding as determined from available floodplain maps, soil characteristics and other characteristics which may impose restrictions on the development of the site;
(g) If the park is to be developed in stages, this should be designated on the area map;
(h) Name of owner, surveyor, and land planner;
(i) Scaled vicinity map inset showing location of park in relationship to nearby towns, communities, and roads;
(j) Boundaries of tract to be developed shown with bearings and distances as established by the boundary survey;
(k) Site data table, including total square feet in common recreation area, total number of home sites, lineal and square feet of streets, and total acreage;
(l) Proposed streets, street names, sidewalks, rights-of-way, pavement widths and approximate grades. There shall be one unrestricted access to a state road for each manufactured home park and said road shall only serve one manufactured home park, as shown on the application. The Board of Adjustment may allow multiple accesses to the park upon being presented with evidence supporting this need;
(m) The location of proposed utilities showing connections to existing systems or plans for individual or public water supply, sewage disposal, storm drainage, and park lighting. An alternative well site as determined by North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) and room for repair of the septic tank system as specified by the Health Department shall be designated;
(n) Other proposed rights-of-way or easements: location, widths, and purposes;
(o) Proposed setback lines from property boundaries;
(p) Proposed manufactured home spaces. All spaces shall have boundary dimensions shown and shall have permanently assigned site numbers placed at the driveway or parking area for each lot. All spaces shall have the proposed location of the manufactured home pads which are designed to turn water flow underneath the building as defined in the North Carolina State Building Code;
(q) Proposed common recreational areas;
(r) Title, date, north arrow, and graphic scale. If proceeding under cluster development option, title shall so indicate;
(s) Proposed storm water drainage system, as needed;
(t) Watershed designation;
(u) Proposed plan for park lighting; and
(v) Any additional requirements found elsewhere in this chapter.
(4) Additional information. In addition to the detailed development plan, the application shall contain the following:
(a) A copy of any park regulations which the owner proposes to use;
(b) A letter from the N.C. Division of Highways Engineer indicating that his or her office has reviewed the area map and development plan and specifying any problems such as highway access or right-of-way encroachments which need to be resolved prior to approval of the application;
(c) A copy of the Health Department's septic system permits, or other evidence that the proposed septic systems have been approved;
(d) A letter from the Surry County Fire Marshal indicating that he has reviewed the project with the Chief of the Volunteer Fire Department serving the project area and the Director of Emergency Medical Services, and stating any problems which need to be resolved prior to approval of the application;
(e) Proposed sedimentation control measures approved by the NCDEQ;
(f) Proposed landscaping and garbage containment plans; and
(g) Certificates or letters of approval from appropriate state agencies if the developer is proposing to install a package waste treatment plant or a public or community water system.
(5) Submission of application to the Board of Adjustment. The owner shall submit the following to the Board of Adjustment:
(a) One copy of the complete application, including the area map, the boundary survey, the detailed development plan and required letters and documents; and
(b) Fourteen additional copies of the detailed development plan and any other requested copies.
(6) Board of Adjustment action.
(a) The Development Services Director shall set and advertise a date and time for a quasi-judicial public hearing before the Board of Adjustment as provided by G.S. § 160D-406. Notice of such hearing shall be published in a newspaper of general local circulation at least 15 days before the date set for the public hearing. At the public hearing, all interested parties shall be permitted to testify in sworn testimony. At least ten days, but not more than 25 days, prior to the hearing, all adjacent property owners and others required by G.S. § 160D-406 shall be mailed a notice of the hearing, via certified mail. The person mailing notices shall certify that such notices have been mailed. Cost of postage shall be reimbursed through fees set by the Board of County Commissioners. In addition, the property for which the conditional use is proposed shall be posted at least ten days, but not more than 25 days before the public hearing.
(b) The Board of Adjustment shall consider the application and comments at the public hearing and may grant or deny the special use permit for the manufactured home park. If the special use permit is granted, the Board of Adjustment shall use as a guide the specific conditions outlined in this subchapter for each use proposed. In addition, the Board of Adjustment shall find:
1. The use will not materially endanger the public health or safety, if located according to the plan submitted and approved;
2. The use meets all required conditions and specifications;
3. The use will not substantially injure the value of adjoining or abutting property, or that the use is a public necessity; and
4. The location and character of the use, if developed according to the plan as submitted and approved, will be in harmony with the area in which it is to be located and in general conformity with the Surry County Land Use Plan.
(c) In granting the special use permit, the Board of Adjustment may designate only those conditions, in addition to those stated herein, which, in its opinion and with the written consent of the applicant or landowner, assure that the use and its proposed location will be harmonious with the area and with the spirit of this chapter and clearly in keeping with the public welfare. All such additional conditions shall be entered in the minutes of the meeting at which the special use permit is granted, on the special use permit itself, and on the approved plans submitted therewith. All specific conditions shall run with the land and shall be binding on the original applications for the special use permit, their heirs, successors, and assigns.
(d) When deciding special use permits, the Board of Adjustment shall follow quasi-judicial procedures. No vote greater than a majority vote of the entire Board membership shall be required for the Board of Adjustment to issue a special use permit. Vacant positions on the Board and members of the Board who are disqualified from voting on a quasi-judicial matter shall not be considered "members of the Board" for calculation of the requisite majority.
(C) Filing of documents.
(1) Following approval of the special use permit by the Board of Adjustment, the owner shall record the boundary survey along with the detailed development plan with the Register of Deeds. Both documents must contain the signature block of the Board of Adjustment Chairperson.
(2) A copy of the complete application shall be kept on file, as a public record, in the Development Services Department.
(D) Manufactured home park dimensional requirements.
(1) Each manufactured home park shall be developed on a tract not less than two acres in size and shall contain at least two manufactured home spaces available at first occupancy.
(2) Manufactured home parks shall not exceed one manufactured home space per 30,000 square feet or 0.69 acres of land area. This limitation shall apply without regard to the method of providing water and sewer service to the individual manufactured home units. In some cases, the method of providing water and sewer service to the individual manufactured home units may require a space greater than that provided for in this division by the Surry County Health Department.
(3) Notwithstanding the above, in no case shall the built-upon requirements of a manufactured home park located in a designated water supply watershed exceed the built-upon limitations for the watershed as shown in this chapter. For manufactured home parks, when calculating lot size and built upon limitations, the most restrictive shall apply.
(4) Likewise, in no case shall the development of a manufactured home park located in the Mitchell River Outstanding Resource Water (ORW) area exceed the standards for the ORW as promulgated by the N.C. Environmental Management Commission. For manufactured home parks, when calculating lot size and built upon limitations, the most restrictive shall apply. Unless otherwise set out in this chapter, these are the minimum development standards.
(5) Each manufactured home lot or space shall consist of a minimum of 30,000 square feet or 0.69 acres and shall have a minimum mean lot width of 100 feet. Each manufactured home space shall be occupied by only one manufactured home at any time. Each manufactured home shall have its street address mounted on the manufactured home in accordance with Ch. 151 of the Surry County Code of Ordinances.
(6) No manufactured home shall be located closer than:
(a) Fifty feet to a public street right-of-way;
(b) Thirty feet to the exterior boundary of the park;
(c) Thirty feet to another manufactured home or dwelling; and
(d) Twenty-five feet to the travel way of an internal street in the park.
(7) Distances shall be measured from the outermost part of the unit including tongue or towing apparatus, porches, steps, or other attachments.
(8) The developer shall grade each manufactured home space to provide proper drainage from the home site as defined in the North Carolina State Building Code.
(9) Each manufactured home unit shall be secured by adequate foundations, tiedowns and anchors to conform to the State of North Carolina Regulations for Manufactured Homes.
(10) All manufactured homes shall have steps and porches constructed at all required exits from the manufactured home to conform to the State of North Carolina Regulations for Manufactured Homes.
(E) Cluster manufactured home park dimensional requirements. Clustering shall be permitted upon submission of an acceptable open space preservation plan as physically indicated on the detailed development plan. Notwithstanding the development standards set out in this subchapter, the cluster development shall be exempt from the minimum lot size requirements of division (D) above, except for the watershed and outstanding resource water sections; provided that a lot size of 6,000 square feet with a park wide density ratio of 30,000 square feet per lot, and the developmental standards in divisions (J) through (P) below, and other requirements herein are met.
(1) Each manufactured home park cluster development shall be developed on a tract not less than five acres in size and shall contain at least manufactured home spaces available at first occupancy.
(2) Each manufactured home space shall consist of 6,000 square feet with a park wide density ratio of 30,000 square feet per home. The 6,000 square foot space shall have a lot width of 60 feet, and a lot depth of 100 feet or vice versa. The following criteria shall be used to determine the location of each lot.
(3) Development should be buffered from direct view by a vegetative buffer, or an earth berm constructed to reflect the topography of the surrounding area or located out of sight on slopes below existing ridge lines.
(4) Each lot shall be located to minimize the visual impact of the development.
(5) Each lot shall not include wetlands, transition areas and floodplains.
(6) Each lot shall not include areas with excessive slopes of greater than 35%.
(7) Roadways shall follow existing contours to minimize the extent of cuts and fills.
(8) The minimum common open space shall be contiguous.
(9) No manufactured home or manufactured home in a cluster development shall be located closer than:
(a) Fifty feet to a public street right-of-way;
(b) Thirty feet to the exterior boundary of the park;
(c) Thirty feet to another manufactured home or dwelling; and
(d) Twenty-five feet to the travel way of an internal street in the park.
(e) Distances shall be measured from the outermost part of the unit, including tongue or towing apparatus, porches, steps, oil tank or other attachment.
(10) Prior to the submission of the detailed development plan, the developer shall schedule a mutually convenient time to walk the property with the Zoning Administrator. The purpose of this visit is to familiarize staff with the property's special features, and to provide them an informal opportunity to offer guidance to the applicant regarding the tentative location of the building lots, open space areas, buffering requirements, and street locations. Prior to scheduling the on-site visit, the applicant shall have prepared a preliminary site or sketch plan that shall show the basic concept of meeting the clustering and open space preservation section and other requirements set forth herein.
(F) Streets and parking. All streets within the manufactured home park, and all streets or easements providing access to the manufactured home park, shall be paved with concrete or asphalt, or provided with an all-weather surface of at least four inches of crushed stone on a well compacted sub-base to a continuous width of 20 feet. Such streets shall be continuously maintained in good condition. The interior street that provides ingress and egress into the park from a public street shall require a driveway permit issued by NCDOT. The street area can be calculated as part of the 30,000 square feet lot or 0.69 acres of land area.
(1) Off-street parking. Each manufactured home space shall have two off-street parking spaces surfaced with pavement or a minimum of four inches of crushed stone or gravel, extending to the internal street serving the space. At his or her option, the developer may install ten-foot-wide shoulders on one or both sides of interior streets, using those for off-street parking instead of individual spaces for each manufactured home.
(2) Cul-de-sac. Dead-end streets shall be provided with cul-de-sacs with a minimum of 45 feet in diameter or alternative T, Y, L or U-shaped cul-de-sacs (standard design and dimensions will be provided by the Development Services Department).
(3) Access. No manufactured home space in a park may have direct access to any public road. Each lot shall have direct access to an internal street of the park.
(4) Street names and street signs. Permanent street names shall be assigned to all internal streets. Said street names shall comply with Ch. 151 of the Surry County Code of Ordinances. Permanent street name signs shall be purchased from Surry County by the manufactured home park developer and shall be installed by Surry County at the appropriate locations.
(G) Buffers and screening requirements. All manufactured home parks shall be screened on all sides, except at approved entrances and exits. The screen or buffer shall comply with the specifications found in §§ 154.015.
(H) Refuse disposal.
(1) The owner shall provide a dumpster installed on a concrete pad and made accessible and available to residents.
(2) The owner shall provide a refuse disposal plan satisfactory to the Local Ordinance Officer. The term "waste disposal containers" shall be interpreted to be dumpsters. The approved refuse disposal plan shall be noted on the manufactured home park detailed development plan.
(I) Accessory buildings and structures. Any attachment to a manufactured home within a manufactured home park shall meet the setback requirement of divisions (D) or (E) above. No more than one freestanding accessory building or structure shall be permitted on an individual manufactured home space. Such freestanding building or structure shall observe the setback requirements of § 154.008 and shall be located no closer than ten feet to the manufactured home that it serves.
(J) Grounds maintenance.
(1) Parks shall be maintained free of accumulations of debris which may provide rodent harborage or breeding places for flies, mosquitoes, and other pests. The growth of brush, weeds and grass shall be controlled to prevent harborage of ticks, chiggers, and other noxious insects. Open areas shall be maintained free of heavy undergrowth.
(2) No junked or nuisance vehicle of any type and/or size shall be parked or stored within any manufactured home park.
(K) Infrastructure requirements for parks.
(1) Following the issuance of a special use permit by the Board of Adjustment, the owner may proceed to install manufactured home park improvements as specified in the approved plans. The intent of this permit is to authorize the construction of the park according to the approved plans and shall not be construed to entitle the owner to offer spaces for rent or lease, or to operate a manufactured home park as defined in this chapter until construction has been completed and has been inspected by the Surry County Inspections Department, the Surry County Health Department, and the Local Ordinance Officer. Improvements may be installed in stages, if this was specified in the park development application and subsequently approved.
(2) Required improvements shall include the following: installation of roads, on-site water and sewer systems, screening, or buffering, waste disposal containers and parking areas.
(3) The Surry County Inspections Department shall not issue a permit to connect electricity to a manufactured home until the park or specified stage of the park has been completed in compliance with this chapter and the approved plan has been approved as specified above. Likewise, no permit to connect electricity shall be issued until a registered professional engineer furnished by the owner has certified that the water system and any public sewer system meet the appropriate state agency standards for such systems.
(L) Maintenance of parks. Continuing maintenance and upkeep of the park are responsibilities of the owner. If the owner fails to maintain the park and allows it to fall below the development standards specified herein, the Local Ordinance Officer may recommend to the Zoning Administrator that the special use permit, or a previously approved manufactured home park permit under a previous ordinance, be revoked.
(M) Revocation of park permits.
(1) If the Zoning Administrator finds sufficient evidence to justify the revocation of the special use permit or manufactured home park compliance permit, based on the recommendation of the Local Ordinance Officer, he or she shall schedule a quasi-judicial hearing before the Board of Adjustment according to the process for the original approval to allow the manufactured home park owner to officially respond to the recommendation of the Local Ordinance Officer.
(2) After hearing the testimony of the Local Ordinance Officer, manufactured home park owner and other persons who have information pertinent to the case, the Board of Adjustment may:
(a) Overrule the Local Ordinance Officer's recommendation;
(b) Prepare a list of corrective actions which the owner shall make within a time specified by the Zoning Administrator; and/or
(c) Revoke the owner's permit.
(3) In the event that a permit is revoked, the Zoning Administrator and the Inspections Department shall issue no permits for the placement of manufactured homes in the park, and the county may seek other relief as permitted by this chapter.
(4) Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of division (H) above, if, for any reason, a sewage treatment and disposal system falls into disrepair, no new manufactured home can locate in the park until all systems meet the provisions enforced by Surry County Environmental Health Department and NCDEQ.
(N) Existing manufactured home parks.
(1) Manufactured home parks existing at the time of adoption of this subchapter are not required to comply with the regulations and minimum standards of this subchapter, with the exception that all existing manufactured home parks shall be subject to the grounds maintenance requirements of this section and to the street maintenance requirements of division (F) above.
(2) Manufactured home parks existing at the time of adoption of this subchapter shall continue to comply with the ordinance in which their parks were approved. Any alteration to an existing manufactured home park shall result in the owner complying in full with this subchapter. Manufactured home parks who are unoccupied for a continuous period of one year shall be required to meet the minimum standards of this subchapter before reopening.
(O) Modification of permits and site plans. Where plans are required to be submitted and approved as part of the application for a special use permit, modifications of the originally approved plans may be authorized by the Board of Adjustment. Modifications of the site plan, which is a part of the permit, are permitted following a quasi-judicial hearing consistent with §§ 154.010 and with G.S. § 160D-705(c).
(P) Required signature blocks and statements for boundary survey and detailed development plan. The following certificates, notes and approval blocks shall appear on the appropriate plans and plats in substantially the formats set by the County Board of Commissioners.
(Ord. passed 4-17-2023)