In addition to the statement of community development objectives set forth in §
230-2B of this chapter, it is hereby declared to be the specific intent of this article, with respect to the MHP Mobile Home Park District, to establish standards of performance and promote the desirable benefits which planned mobile home parks may have upon the community and the residents within them. It is further the intent of this article to endure the interdependency and compatibility of proposed mobile home parks with essential utilities and surrounding land uses in the Township. It shall further be the intent of this District to:
A. Reflect the changes in the technology of home building
and land development so that resulting economies may enure to the
benefits of those who need homes;
B. Further the general welfare by extending greater opportunities
for better and more affordable housing to all present and prospective
residents of Montgomery Township;
C. Provide for better quality and greater variety in
type, design and layout of mobile home parks than has been evident
in many mobile home parks in the past by enforcing uniform standards,
desirable design criteria and encouraging innovative site design approaches;
D. Provide for a diversity in housing types and prices;
and
E. Encourage mobile home parks that are beneficial rather
than detrimental to property values and the general welfare of the
area in which they are proposed.
Mobile home parks are allowed only in an MHP Mobile Home Park District(s), and provided that the tract to be used as a mobile home park meets the criteria specified in §
230-57 of this article. The uses which are permissible in a mobile home park are as follows:
A. Residential uses. A mobile home park may include mobile
homes of single width or multiple width or both, single-family detached
modular homes, conventionally built single-family detached homes,
or any combination thereof, but shall not include travel trailers
or motor homes. No more than 40% of the total number of dwelling units
in a mobile home park may be conventionally built or modular single-family
dwellings.
B. Passenger shelters for local stops of public transportation.
[Amended 1-24-2005 by Ord. No. 04-191Z]
C. Accessory uses.
(1) Accessory uses and structures customarily incidental
to the maintenance, servicing and well-being of mobile home park residents
shall be permitted only as part of an approved development plan for
the site.
(2) Accessory uses on individual mobile home lots, customarily incidental to mobile homes, or other dwellings, such as storage sheds, shall be permitted on the individual mobile home lots, provided that the provisions of §§
230-59 and
230-60 and other applicable ordinances are complied with.
(3) Added rooms specifically designed by the mobile home manufacturers for enlargement of mobile homes and other additions architecturally compatible with the unit may be joined onto a mobile home, provided that all requirements of §
230-60 and other applicable ordinances are met.
D. Such wireless telecommunications facilities as permitted by right, special exception or conditional use, depending on the type of facility, in compliance with Article
XXX herein.
[Added 1-11-1999 by Ord. No. 98-97Z]
A mobile home park may be allowed by the governing body as a use in an MHP Mobile Home Park District only pursuant to the procedure specified in §
230-56 and subject to the following standards. The burden of proving compliance with these standards shall be on the applicant.
A. The tract of land to be developed shall be in one
ownership or shall be the subject of an application filed by the owners
of the entire tract, and it shall be agreed that the tract shall be
developed under single direction and in the manner approved.
B. Any parcel to be used as a mobile home park must have
a minimum tract area of 15 contiguous acres of land.
C. At least 50% of the site shall be composed of developable
land.
D. Any site proposed for a mobile home park shall not
be subject to adverse environmental influence, such as swamps, marshes,
garbage or rubbish disposal areas or other potential breeding places
for insects or rodents.
E. Any site proposed for a mobile home park shall not
be subject to any hazard or nuisance, such as excessive noise, vibration,
smoke, toxic matter, radiation, heat, odor or glare, as defined by
the governing body and all appropriate ordinances.
F. The location of all mobile home parks shall be protected
by screening or other appropriate means against any undesirable off-site
views or any adverse influence (such as heavy commercial or industrial
use, heavy traffic or brightly lighted activities) from adjoining
streets and areas.
G. Mobile home parks shall not be located directly abutting
conventionally built single-family detached housing of significantly
different unit value and density than the proposed mobile homes except
where extensive natural buffering exists and will be retained or can
be created so as to functionally and visually separate the two sites
or where compatible units of modular or conventionally built homes
will be located in the mobile home park adjacent to the existing residences.
The developer shall provide any necessary transition between differing
residential structural types, unit values and densities within the
mobile home park tract.
H. Any site proposed for a mobile home park shall, in
the opinion of the governing body, be easily accessible to essential
community facilities and services, such as employment centers, shopping
centers, schools and police and fire protection, and shall be within
one mile by roads or pedestrian walkway to existing or planned convenience
commercial facilities. The site should also preferably be within the
same one mile distance of existing or planned public transit routes
(if available).
I. Every area to be used as a mobile home park must be
served exclusively by the municipal sanitary waste disposal system
and a centralized water supply system, if those facilities are available
and if each system is found to contain the available capacity to serve
the proposed park or, alternatively, the area to be used as a mobile
home park must, if it cannot connect to either or both the centralized
water supply and municipal sanitary sewer systems, be served by a
common single water supply system serving all dwelling units and other
structures in the park and/or a common single sanitary sewer system
doing likewise, either or both of which, as applicable, must have
the approval of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources.
Furthermore, those on-site facilities must, when constructed, meet
the following criteria:
(1) The satellite system shall be designed and constructed
in a manner that will permit adequate connection to the centralized
or public system in the future.
(2) The administrative structure for the satellite system
shall be organized in a manner that will facilitate easy interconnection
of the two systems.
(3) The developer shall be required to show proof that
the satellite system intending to serve the proposed park will not
interfere with any existing sewage disposal system or any existing
water supplies, be they wells for nearby properties or sources of
water for other community systems.
(4) When the centralized or public system reaches the
park site, connection to it shall be mandatory, and the cost of the
eventual interconnection shall be borne by the developer or the organization
that is set up to own and operate the satellite system.
(5) If, after development occurs, the satellite water
system is deemed to be the cause of interference with existing water
supplies or the satellite sewer system is deemed to be the cause of
any pollution, extension of the centralized or public systems may
be required at that time. The cost of the extension and hookup shall
be borne by the developer or organization owning and operating the
satellite system.
J. Any tract intended for a mobile home park must have
direct access to the feeder-type road (or a road of a higher classification),
as defined by the Township Comprehensive Plan or Ultimate Right-Of-Way
Ordinance, which the Township governing body deems capable of accommodating
the transport of mobile home units, upon recommendation of the Township
Engineer. Plans evidencing provisions for safe and efficient ingress
and egress to and from the public streets and highways servicing the
mobile home park, without causing undue confusion or interference
with the normal traffic flow, shall be submitted to the Township governing
body and must be approved by the Township Engineer, who shall make
the determinations based on the adequacy of the thoroughfare to carry
the additional traffic generated by the mobile home park.
K. The applicant shall demonstrate to the satisfaction of the municipal governing body that he has complied with or will comply with all requirements of Chapter 179 of Title 25, Part I, Subpart D, Article
II, of the Rules and Regulations of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources, and with all other pertinent regulations of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania which are applicable to mobile home parks.
L. Landscaping and screening. All landscaping, screening and buffering shall be installed in accordance with the provisions of the Montgomery Township Subdivision Ordinance, No. 18, Chapter
205, Article
VI.
[Added 8-3-1987 by Ord. No. 17-033]
The total number of lots in a mobile home park
shall not exceed a maximum density of five units per gross acre.
The lot size required under the MHP Mobile Home Park District shall be a minimum of 7,000 square feet for lots which are used for modular homes or conventionally built single-family detached homes located with the mobile home park. All other requirements applicable to mobile homes as specified in §
230-60 remain applicable to modular and conventionally built single-family homes.
In a mobile home park, some of the total open
space as defined in this Zoning Ordinance for an R-3 Residential District
shall be assigned as common open space in an amount at least equal
to 20% of the gross site area.
[Added 7-28-1986 by Ord. No. 17-037]
See Article
XXI of this Zoning Ordinance for general provisions that may also relate to this District.