[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Waterford 6-6-1989 by L.L. No.
1-1989. Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Mobile
Home Law of the Town of Waterford."
It is the purpose of this chapter to regulate the maintenance
of mobile homes and mobile home parks within the Town of Waterford
and to prescribe regulations for said parks, to regulate the parking
and location of mobile homes outside of said park within the Town
of Waterford and to require that mobile home parks within the Town
of Waterford be laid out and constructed in accordance with approved
plans.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Any mobile home which has been continuously unoccupied or
uninhabited for a period of 90 consecutive days.
A structure subordinate to the principal structure or mobile
home on the same lot and serving a purpose customarily incidental
to the principal structure.
A paved road within the boundaries of the mobile home park.
A transportable, single, detached dwelling for one family
suitable for year-round occupancy and containing the same water supply,
waste disposal and electrical conveniences as immobile housing. A
"mobile home" is designed and built to be towed on its own chassis,
comprised of a frame and wheels, and is connected to utilities and
designed to be used with or without a permanent foundation for year-round
living. A unit may contain parts that may be folded, collapsed or
telescoped when being towed and expanded later to provide additional
cubic capacity, as well as two or more separately towable components
designed to be joined into one integral unit capable of being again
separated into the components for repeated towing. A "mobile home"
is not to be confused with a travel trailer which is towed by a motor
vehicle and can be operated independently of utility connections,
is limited in width to eight feet, in length to 35 feet and is designed
to be used principally as a temporary vacation dwelling. A "mobile
home" is the same as a "manufactured home."
A parcel of land for the placement of a single mobile home
and the exclusive use of its occupants.
A parcel of land under single ownership [one deed] which
has been planned and improved for the placement of mobile homes for
nontransient use.
A written license issued by the Town Clerk allowing a person
to operate and maintain a mobile home park under the provisions of
this chapter and regulations issued hereunder.
That part of a mobile home lot which has been reserved for
the placement of the mobile home, accessory structures or additions,
including driveway apron and patio.
The owner, lessee or any other person designated as responsible
for the maintenance and operation of the park and such services and
facilities as are provided and/or necessary for the use of such property.
A written permit issued by the Building Inspector permitting
the construction, alteration and/or extension of a mobile home park
under the provisions of this chapter and regulations issued hereunder.
Any individual, firm, trust, partnership, public or private
association or corporation.
All putrescible and nonputrescible solid waste, including
but not limited to garbage, rubbish, ashes, incinerator residue, street
cleanup, dead animals, offal and solid commercial wastes.
That portion of designated land set aside for the installation
of utilities and/or sidewalks, curbs, gutters or other unrestricted
uses and maintained by the owner.
Excreta and the waste from a flush toilet, bath, sink, lavatory,
dishwashing or laundry machine or the water-carried waste from any
other fixture or equipment or machine.
No person, firm or corporation being the owner or occupant of
any land or premises within the Town of Waterford shall use or permit
the use of said land or premises as a mobile home park without obtaining
a permit thereof as hereinafter provided.
A.
Application for permit. The application for each mobile home park
permit shall be in writing and signed by the applicant. It shall state:
(1)
The name and address of the applicant.
(2)
The name and address of each partner if the applicant be a partnership.
(3)
The name and address of each officer and director if the applicant
be a corporation.
(4)
A complete description of the premises upon which the proposed park
is to be located.
(5)
The name and address of the owner or owners of such premises.
(6)
The number of park units to be provided in the proposed park.
B.
Each application shall be accompanied by a set of plans and specifications,
prepared and drawn to scale by a registered architect or licensed
professional engineer showing the layout of the park, the location,
the size and arrangement of each park unit, location of streets, location
of water service and location of garbage receptacles. Where the applicant
is not the owner of the premises, the application shall also be accompanied
by an original or photostatic copy of the lease of the premises and
a written statement signed by all the owners consenting that the premises
be used for the purpose of a mobile home park.
C.
Filing of application. Such application shall indicate compliance
by the applicant with the minimum court requirements as established
by rule or regulation of the State Department of Health and of the
Sanitary Code of the State of New York, and the rules of the Saratoga
County Department of Health.
D.
Issuance of permit. The Town Clerk of the Town of Waterford, upon
the written application and upon the approval of the same by the Town
Board of the Town of Waterford after a public hearing thereon and
upon receipt of the fee hereinafter provided, shall issue a permit
to become effective from the date thereof, and to continue in force
for the term specified therein but in no event longer than through
the 31st day of December next succeeding for the use of the premises
therein specified as a mobile home park, which permit shall specify
the number of park units which may be used in said park. Such permit
shall not be transferable or assignable.
E.
Fees. The applicant for a mobile home park shall, at the time of
issuance of any such permit, pay to the Town Clerk a fee computed
at the rate of $1 per park unit per annum, based upon the maximum
fee for an annual permit which shall be $10.
A.
Drainage and grading. All lands used as a mobile home park shall
be well drained, of ample size and free from heavy or dense growth
of brush or weeds. The land shall be properly graded to ensure proper
drainage and shall at all times be so drained as to be free from stagnant
pools of water.
B.
Park plan. Each mobile home park constructed, altered or expanded
shall be subdivided and marked off into lots or park units numbered
consecutively, the number being conspicuously posted on each park
unit; each of which park units shall contain at least 5,000 square
feet and shall be at least 50 feet by 100 feet in dimension. No more
than one mobile home shall be permitted to occupy any one park unit.
The park units shall be grouped in blocks with streets at least 30
feet wide between each block and be adequately lighted. Each park
unit shall have direct access to a street. No park unit shall be located
within 50 feet of any public highway or public street line or within
25 feet of any adjacent property line or 50 feet of any adjacent dwelling
house. Each mobile home park and all parts thereof shall be kept in
a clean and sanitary condition at all times.
C.
Water connection. Each mobile park shall be provided with the proper
water connections. Each lot within the mobile home park shall be provided
with the proper water connections.
D.
Sewage. Each mobile home park shall provide and maintain facilities
for the satisfactory treatment and/or disposal of sewage, including
but not limited to the following conditions:
(1)
Each lot shall be provided with a minimum four-inch sewer pipe below
the ground surface and a four-inch rise pipe.
(2)
The connecting pipe (minimum of three-inch diameter) from the mobile
home to the riser pipe shall be noncollapsible and semirigid. All
connections shall be watertight.
(3)
The riser pipe shall be provided with a watertight seal when not
connected to a mobile home.
(4)
Inadequately treated sewage on the surface of the ground shall be
prohibited.
(5)
The operator shall be responsible for maintaining the sewage system
to include the riser pipe. The connecting pipe shall also be the responsibility
of the operator. The operators shall be responsible for providing
a water and odor tight connection from the water drainage to the sewer
connection. The operator shall be responsible for providing all such
connections and maintaining all such connections to the sewer for
all occupied mobile homes in the park.
(6)
Sewer connections in unoccupied park units shall be so closed that
they will emit no odors or cause a breeding place for flies.
(7)
No water or waste shall be allowed to fall on the ground from a mobile
home.
E.
Garbage disposal. Each mobile home park shall make provision for
sanitary equipment to prevent littering of the grounds and premises
with rubbish, garbage and refuse. Each mobile home shall have containers
with tightly fitting covers. Each mobile home park shall provide a
flytight storage building or buildings at a convenient location or
locations equipped with flytight metal depositories of sufficient
size and number to contain all the rubbish, garbage and refuse that
may accumulate between removals from the premises. Disposal shall
be provided for all rubbish, garbage and refuse at least once weekly
by the mobile home park owner or his agent and in conformance with
Town requirements.
F.
Electric service and connections. Each mobile home park shall provide
weatherproof electric service connections and outlets. All electric
installation shall be approved by the New York State Board of Fire
Underwriters and have a certificate issued by the same.
G.
Utilities. The owner shall be responsible for the installation and
maintenance of park utilities, in accordance with applicable state
and local regulations or generally accepted standards. The owner shall
also be responsible for the proper connection of park utilities to
each home.
H.
Fuel supply. All mobile home parks shall be provided with facilities
for the safe storage of necessary fuel. All systems shall be installed
and maintained in accordance with applicable codes and regulations
governing such system. The park owner shall not prohibit access to
the mobile home park to any person employed, retained or requested
by a mobile home dweller to supply fuel and/or service or maintain
any fuel-related system or equipment.
I.
Electrical requirements. All mobile home parks shall contain an electrical
wiring system consisting of wiring fixtures, equipment and appurtenances
which shall be installed and maintained in accordance with the local
electric power company's specifications and regulations, and in accordance
with all applied laws, rules or regulations of the State of New York.
J.
Internal streets. Internal streets of the mobile home park shall
be provided and maintained by the owner in accordance with all Town,
county and state laws governing private roadways. Adequate lighting
shall be provided and maintained by the owner at each intersection
from dusk till dawn with such lighting meeting the recommendations
of the local utility company.
K.
Unlicensed vehicles. No unlicensed vehicles shall be parked within
the mobile home park for a period in excess of 48 hours.
L.
Abandoned mobile homes. Abandoned or unoccupied mobile homes shall
not be allowed on a lot or on any land within the bounds of the mobile
home park for a period in excess of 90 days.
The police officers of the Town of Waterford, the Health Officer
and any other duly authorized agent or employee of said Town shall
have the right at any reasonable time to enter any mobile home park
or other premises used for the parking or location of a mobile home,
and shall have the right at all times to inspect all parts of said
premises and to inspect the records required to be kept in any mobile
home park.
If a police officer, health officer or any authorized representative
of the Town of Waterford finds that any mobile home park is not being
maintained in a clean and sanitary condition or is not being conducted
in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, such facts shall
thereupon be reported to the Town Board and said Town Board may direct
the Town Clerk to serve an order in writing upon the holder of the
permit or the person in charge of said park, directing that the conditions
therein specified be remedied within 10 days after date of service
of such order. If such conditions are not corrected after the expiration
of said ten-day period, the Town Board may cause a notice in writing
to be served upon the holder of said permit or the person in charge
of such mobile home park, requiring the holder of the permit to appear
before the Town Board of the Town of Waterford at a time to be specified
in such notice and to show cause why such mobile home park permit
should not be revoked. The Town Board may, after a hearing to which
testimony of witnesses may be taken, and the holder of the permit
shall be heard, revoke such permit if said Town Board shall find that
said park is not being maintained in a clean and sanitary condition,
or if it finds that any provisions of this chapter have been violated
or for other sufficient cause. Upon the revocation of such permit,
the premises shall forthwith cease to be used for the purpose of a
mobile home park, and all mobile homes shall forthwith be removed
therefrom.
Application for the renewal of any mobile home permit issued pursuant to this chapter must be filed with the Town Clerk on or before the first day of December next preceding the expiration of said permit. The application for renewal shall be in writing and signed by the applicant and shall contain the same information as required by § 104-5A of this chapter in the case of original application for permits, except that such renewal application need not be accompanied by a plan of the mobile home park unless some change in the plan or layout of the park is contemplated by the applicant, nor is it necessary that said renewal application be accompanied by the lease of the premises unless a new lease of the premises has been entered into subsequent to the time of filing the previous application, in which event the original or photostatic copy of the new lease shall be attached to the application for a renewal, nor shall it be necessary to attach to such application for a renewal the written consent of the owners of the premises that the same may be used for the purpose of a mobile home park unless there shall have been a change in the ownership since the filing of the previous application, in which event such written statement signed by all of the new owners of the premises must accompany the application for a renewal of the permit. Upon the approval of said application for a renewal of the permit by the Town Board, the Town Clerk shall issue a renewal permit which shall become effective upon the expiration of the prior permit and continue in force for the term specified therein but in no event longer than for a period of one year. Such renewal permit shall not be transferred or assigned. The applicant shall, at the time of issuance of such renewal permit, pay to the Town Clerk the same fee provided in § 104-5D of this chapter covering the original issuance of mobile home park permits.
This chapter shall apply to all existing mobile home parks located in the Town of Waterford on the effective date of said chapter, and such existing mobile home parks shall henceforth be maintained and operated in compliance with all of the provisions of this chapter. Any additions, extensions or enlargements of existing parks shall be made in compliance with all provisions of this chapter. The owner or operator of any existing park shall have 90 days after this chapter becomes effective to make an application pursuant to § 104-5 for a permit to operate such park.
A.
Highway parking prohibited. No mobile home shall be parked or allowed
to remain upon any public highway or private way in the Town of Waterford
for over eight hours.
B.
No mobile home shall be parked outside of a duly licensed mobile
home park in the Town of Waterford, except as follows:
(1)
Any owner of land who intends to build a dwelling house upon a parcel
of land located in the Town of Waterford may apply to the Town Clerk
and, after compliance with the provisions of this chapter and payment
of the fee set forth hereinafter, be granted a permit to park a mobile
home upon said parcel of land during the erection of said dwelling.
The aforesaid permit shall be issued by the Town Clerk for a period
not in excess of six months from the date of issuance thereof, or
until the dwelling being constructed is occupied, whichever is the
shorter period. Said permit may be extended by letter by the Town
Clerk for a period not to exceed three months from the date of expiration.
In the event that said owner desires an additional extension of said
permit, a written application shall be submitted to the Town Board
of the Town of Waterford, which extension may be granted or denied
by said Town Board after an examination of the facts and circumstances
concerning the same and after the applicant has been given an opportunity
to speak on behalf of such application. Upon the expiration of the
aforesaid permit and/or any extension thereof, said mobile home shall
be vacated as living quarters and disconnected from its water supply
and sewage disposal systems.
(2)
None of the provisions of this chapter shall be applicable to a mobile
home located on the site of a commercial or public construction project,
survey project or other similar work project and used solely as a
field office or work or tool house used in connection with such project,
provided that such mobile home is removed from the site within a reasonable
time after the completion of such project.
C.
Any owner or occupant of a mobile home desiring to place or park the same in the Town of Waterford outside a licensed mobile home park for human habitation, other than an owner or occupant set forth in Subsection B(1) and (2) hereof, shall make written application to the Town Clerk of the Town of Waterford, and after compliance with the provisions of this chapter and payment of the fee set forth hereinafter, be granted a permit to so park or place a mobile home. Said permit shall be valid for a term of four weeks and no additional permit shall be issued to said owner or occupant and/or the owner of the land upon which said mobile home is parked or placed for any period of time during the next succeeding 11 months; provided, however, that the owner or occupant of said mobile home and/or the owner of the land upon which said mobile home was located may apply in writing to the Town Board of the Town of Waterford for an extension of the aforesaid permit for a period not to exceed 11 months, which extension shall be granted or denied by the Town Board after an examination of the facts and circumstances concerning the same and after the applicant has been accorded an opportunity to speak on behalf of such application.
D.
Application for permit to the Town Clerk of the Town of Waterford. The owner or occupant of a mobile home seeking to park or place the same pursuant to the provisions of Subsections B(1) and C hereof shall make written application to the Town Clerk. The application shall set forth:
(1)
The name and address of the applicant.
(2)
The name and address of each partner, if the applicant be a partnership.
(3)
The name and address of each officer and director, if the applicant
be a corporation.
(4)
The description of the premises upon which the mobile home is to
be located.
(5)
The name and address of the owner or owners of such premises and
if the applicant is not the owner of the premises where said mobile
home is to be located, the applicant shall file with the issuing officer
the acknowledged consent of said owner that the premises may be used
for such purposes and subject to the provisions of this chapter.
E.
Each application shall be accompanied by a plot plan drawn to scale
and prepared by a licensed professional engineer or surveyor and showing:
F.
Any inhabited mobile home parked and maintained pursuant to the provisions
of this section shall have an approved water supply and shall install
and use a sewage disposal system at least equal to that required by
a two-bedroom dwelling.
G.
The written approval of the Water Supply and Sewage Disposal Systems by the Saratoga County Department of Health must be presented to the Town Clerk with the application for a permit under Subsection D above.
H.
Any uninhabited mobile home may be parked or stored outside of a
licensed mobile home park; provided, however, that it shall not be
parked between the street line and the front building line of the
premises upon which it shall be stored nor in the side yards of said
premises.
I.
A mobile home or mobile homes exhibited for sale and uninhabited
as living quarters may be maintained outside of a licensed mobile
home park. One such mobile home in a sale lot may be used as a sales
office.
J.
Fees. The applicant for a mobile home permit pursuant to the provisions
of this section shall, at the time of issuance of any such permit
or renewal thereof, pay to the Town Clerk a fee of $1.
K.
If a police officer, health officer, member of the Town Board or
any authorized representative of the Town of Waterford finds any house
trailer outside a mobile home park is not being maintained in a clean
and sanitary condition or is not being maintained in accordance with
the provisions of this chapter, such facts shall thereupon be reported
to the Town Board and said Town Board may direct the Town Clerk to
serve an order in writing upon the holder of the permit and/or the
owner of the mobile home and/or the owner of the premises, directing
that the condition therein specified be remedied within five days
after the date of service of such order. If such conditions are not
corrected, after the expiration of said five-day period, the Town
Board may cause a notice in writing to be served upon the holder of
such permit and/or the owner of said mobile home and/or the owner
of the premises upon which it is located requiring the appearance
of the person so served before the Town Board of the Town of Waterford
at a time to be specified in such notice and show cause why such mobile
home permit should not be revoked. The Town Board may, after a hearing
at which testimony of witnesses may be taken and the person so served
shall be heard, revoke such permit if the Town Board shall find that
said mobile home is not being maintained in a clean and sanitary condition
or if it finds that any provision of this chapter has been violated
or for any other sufficient cause. Upon the revocation of such permit,
said mobile home shall be removed forthwith from the premises and
disconnected from its water supply and sewage disposal system.
L.
The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to mobile homes parked
outside of a duly licensed mobile home park prior to the effective
date of this chapter and occupied as a dwelling. Such mobile homes
may remain in the position or place in which they are then parked;
provided, however, that no such mobile homes shall be moved to a new
location in the Town of Waterford except in compliance with the provisions
of this chapter, and provided also that any owner or lessee of a mobile
home presently parked outside a licensed mobile home park may replace
the same with a new mobile home located upon the same plot of ground
and in the same general location. The owner of an existing mobile
home replacing the same with a new mobile home shall file a plot plan
with the Town Clerk showing the dimensions of the new mobile home
and its location upon the building lot.
Any person who violates any provision of this chapter shall
be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than $100
and not more than 30 days' imprisonment. In addition, the violation
of the chapter or any of the provisions thereof shall subject the
person, firm or corporation violating the same to a civil penalty
in the sum of $50; said penalty may be recovered by the Town of Waterford
in a civil action.
The issuance of a permit pursuant to the provisions of this
chapter shall not be deemed to waive compliance by the holder thereof,
by the property owner or by any occupant of said court with any statute,
rule or regulation of the State of New York or law or health regulation
of the Town of Waterford or of the Saratoga County Department of Health.
This chapter shall not apply within the corporate limits of
the Incorporated Village of Waterford.
