[HISTORY: Section 10 of the Plainville Board of Health Regulations.
Amendments noted where applicable.]
Pursuant to the provisions of MGL c. 140, the Board of Health
of the Town of Plainville hereby establishes the following rules and
regulations governing the establishment, development, and operation
of mobile home parks.
The following words as used in these rules and regulations,
unless a different meaning is required by the context or is specifically
prescribed, shall have the following meanings:
A dwelling unit built on a chassis and containing complete
electrical, plumbing, and sanitary facilities and designed to be installed
on a temporary or permanent foundation for permanent living quarters.
Any awning, cabana, ramada, storage structure, carport, fence,
windbreak, porch, or similar structure established on mobile home
lot for use of the occupant of the mobile home.
A parcel of land provided for the placement of a single mobile
home and the exclusive use of its occupants within a mobile home park.
That area of a mobile home lot which has been reserved for
the placement of a mobile home.
Any lot or tract of land upon which three or more mobile
homes occupied for dwelling purposes are located including any buildings,
structures, fixtures, and equipment used in connection with mobile
homes.
The total of all area covered by a mobile home and roofed
mobile home accessory buildings on a mobile home lot.
A private way which affords principal means of access to
a mobile home lot or permanent building.
Any structure erected and constructed and permanently affixed
to the ground it occupies within any mobile home park.
A.Â
No mobile home park shall be established, developed, or operated in the Town of Plainville, nor shall any existing mobile home park be altered, modified, or extended, unless a license therefor has been granted by the Board, acting with the advice of the Planning Board. No such license shall be granted except in conformance with applicable provisions of the Massachusetts General Laws and the Chapter 500, Zoning, of the Code of the Town of Plainville.
B.Â
No mobile home trailer, or like structure shall be used for living
quarters anywhere in the Town of Plainville except on those locations
licensed therefor, unless in case of an emergency or disaster if it
is so proclaimed by the Board of Selectmen. Such temporary permits
shall be administered by the Board.
A.Â
No mobile home park shall be less than five acres in area, exclusive
of park streets and the area provided for recreation, service, and
other permanent buildings.
B.Â
There shall be no more than eight mobile home lots laid out on each
acre, exclusive of park streets and the area provided for recreation,
service, and other permanent buildings.
C.Â
There shall be provided central facilities for recreation and services,
such as laundry, which shall be available to all mobile home park
residents.
D.Â
At least one off-street parking space, substantially equivalent to
a ten-foot-by-twenty-foot rectangle, shall be provided for each mobile
home lot.
E.Â
The occupied area of a mobile home lot shall not exceed 50% of the
lot area.
F.Â
No mobile home shall be located closer than 15 feet to the nearest
mobile home lot line or park street, and no mobile home accessory
building shall be located closer than 10 feet to such a lot line or
park street, except as specifically authorized by the Board with the
advice of the Planning Board, in a cluster or other arrangement deemed
to be suited to the terrain or other considerations. Each mobile home
shall be located with at least a thirty-foot set back from any abutting
public street or highway.
G.Â
Streets.
(1)Â
The street system shall conform to construction standards set forth in Chapter 540, Subdivision of Land, of Division 4, Planning Board Regulations, of the Code of the Town of Plainville for the construction and paving of streets in subdivisions in the Town and shall have direct connection to a public street or highway sufficient to satisfy the safety requirements of the Superintendent of Highways and the Fire Chief.
(2)Â
Access streets connecting park streets to public streets or highways
shall have a layout of no less than 40 feet in width and shall be
acceptable to the Superintendent of Highways as to grading, contour,
and surface.
(3)Â
Park streets shall have layout of no less than 30 feet in width and
have a turnaround with a radius of no less than 30 feet at any terminus.
All park streets shall be lighted, named, and marked. All lots on
each street shall be marked with a number. The maintenance of park
and access streets shall be the responsibility of the mobile home
park owner or operator.
H.Â
Each mobile home lot within a mobile home park shall have a frontage
of at least 50 feet on a park street.
I.Â
No mobile home lot shall be located within 100 feet of any stream,
pond, lake, or other waterway except where public sewage facilities
are available and utilized, and the location will not present a potential
flood hazard.
J.Â
No license shall be granted for establishing or developing a mobile
home park unless a connection is made to a municipal water supply
system and all units within the park are connected to it. A private
water system for use in a central laundry or other similar use may
be permitted at the discretion of the Board.
K.Â
Where a public sewage system is available at or within the boundary
of the park site, connection shall be made to such system to serve
all mobile homes and permanent buildings within the park.
L.Â
Storage of mobile homes.
(1)Â
Mobile homes shall not be stored or displayed on park premises except
when mounted on a pad on a lot. New mobile homes displayed for sale
by the park owner or operator must be sold for use within the park
in which they are displayed.
(2)Â
Used mobile homes offered for sale by individual mobile homeowners
must be displayed on a pad on a lot within the park but may be sold
either for use within the park to an individual or to the park owner
or operator, or for use outside the park. The park owner or operator
may also display used mobile homes on a pad on a lot for resale within
the park premises.
(3)Â
Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as permitting the storage of unoccupied mobile homes in any park for sale in the ordinary course of business, or as inventory, or as permitting the actual sale of such homes in any park except in those districts, as determined by Chapter 500, Zoning, of the Code of the Town of Plainville, wherein such commercial activity is permissible with or without permits from the proper authority.
M.Â
The developer shall provide for a buffer zone of at least 30 feet
with appropriate vegetation between the mobile home park and any adjacent
property and shall establish a similar thirty-foot buffer when such
mobile home park shall be adjacent to any highway or road.
A.Â
Application for a license to establish a mobile home park or to alter,
modify, or extend an existing mobile home park shall be made in writing
to the Board. Upon receipt of such application the Board shall forward
a copy thereof to the Planning Board for its recommendation. Within
30 days of its receipt of the application, the Board shall hold a
public hearing on the application.
B.Â
The Board shall, with the advice of the Planning Board, act on the
application and notify the applicant of its decision within 60 days
of such hearing. Each application shall include the following:
(1)Â
The name and address of the applicant and the nature of his interest
in the property involved.
(2)Â
The name and precise location of the proposed mobile home park or
of the existing park to which an alteration, modification, or extension
is proposed.
(3)Â
A detailed plan of the proposed mobile home park or of the proposed
alteration, modification, or extension of an existing park, prepared
by a registered engineer or land surveyor to a scale of 80 feet to
the inch showing:
(a)Â
All mobile home lots, park streets, water and sewer systems,
and proposed sites for individual sewerage disposal facilities if
their use is intended.
(b)Â
Required buffer zones, open space, playgrounds, and parking
areas.
(c)Â
Watercourses and other bodies of water, natural or artificial.
(d)Â
Existing large trees or other natural features.
(e)Â
The contour of the land involved drawn of a scale of five-foot
intervals to the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey Datum.
(f)Â
All abutting land, with names of owners.
(g)Â
A separate key sketch, at a scale of one inch equals 2,000 feet,
showing the relation of the surrounding road networks. North point
of the plan and the key sketch shall be in the same direction.
(h)Â
In the case of land bordering on or including permanent flowing
or standing waters, or where the high ground elevation is within six
feet of the existing or proposed ground surface level, the Board may
require the plan to show existing and proposed contours on a scale
of two-foot intervals.
(i)Â
In case of an application for a license for a proposed mobile
home park, an itemized estimate of the cost of equipping the park
with the buildings, structures, fixtures, and facilities necessary
to conduct a mobile home park shall be included with the application.
(4)Â
A site report containing the following information:
(a)Â
Location of the nearest public water system, the size of the
water main serving the area, the location of existing fire hydrants
along any public roads adjacent to the development, and the location
of proposed fire hydrants within the mobile home park.
(b)Â
The type of sewage disposal system to be provided or intended
to be used in the mobile home park, such as an individual system on
each lot, a community system or a municipal system. The report shall
also specify the location of the nearest municipal sewage system and
whether it is available and feasible for use. If a sewage disposal
system other than a community of municipal system or individual lot
septic tank and leaching field is proposed, the application shall
include engineering evidence of satisfactory performance as may be
required by the Board.
(c)Â
Statement of the existing use of adjacent properties and intended
use of adjacent properties and intended use of adjacent undeveloped
lands if known.
(d)Â
Certified report of a registered engineer indicating the highest
known surface water elevations on the mobile home park site in the
last 10 years and, if required by the Board, on adjacent properties.
(e)Â
Statement of proposed surface drainage system, including storm
drainage flow direction of the mobile home park and adjacent properties
and evidence that existing drainage systems, natural or man-made,
are of sufficient size to contain the maximum runoff from the site
without flooding or erosion.
(f)Â
Such additional information as the Board may request after initial
review of the application.
A.Â
The Board may grant a license to an applicant subject to such conditions,
consistent with these rules and regulations and applicable provisions
of the Massachusetts General Laws, as it desires to impose. The Board
shall notify the applicant, in writing, within 60 days of the public
hearing conducted on the application, of its decision to grant or
deny the license.
B.Â
If its decision is to deny the license, the Board shall include in
its decision the reasons for such denial. Any license granted shall
expire on December 31 in the year of issue but may be renewed annually
upon application without such notice and hearing.
The Board may suspend or revoke any license granted for a mobile
home park if the licensee violates or fails to comply with any conditions,
limitations, or restrictions in the license, or violates or fails
to comply with these rules and regulations or the applicable provisions
of the Massachusetts General Laws.
A.Â
Mobile home pad. The pad shall be constructed from concrete or asphalt
concrete sufficient to adequately support the mobile home and prevent
abnormal settling or heaving under the weight of the home. The mobile
home shall be anchored to prevent wind overturn and rocking by using
tie-downs such as concrete "dead men," screw augers, arrowhead anchors,
or other suitable devices capable of withstanding a tension of at
least 4,800 pounds. The mobile home shall be boxed in.
B.Â
Water, sewer, and electrical lines.
(1)Â
A plan an profile showing water, sewer, and electrical lines shall
be submitted to the Superintendent of Highways for approval. Utility
lines shall not be laid in the same trench, and there shall be a minimum
horizontal distance of 10 feet between them. Water/sewer crosses shall
be kept to a minimum where crosses are necessary. Every effort shall
be made to have the water lines pass above the sewer lines where adequate
depths for cover are practical to obtain.
(2)Â
Acceptable sewer pipe materials are cement, asbestos, and rigid plastic
such as PVC and ABS. The water and sewer riser pipes shall form watertight
seals and, when not connected to a mobile home, shall be tightly and
securely plugged.
(3)Â
Water and sewer riser pipes shall extend at least six inches above
the mobile home pad. The water supply riser pipe shall have at least
3/5 inches inside diameter. A shutoff valve below the frost line shall
serve each mobile home.
(4)Â
Underground stop and waste valves shall be installed on any water
service.
C.Â
Electrical. Electric power lines shall be either underground or strung
from poles in a manner acceptable to the servicing electric power
company. Wires shall not be strewn about on the ground surface or
strung from home to home. All connections shall be installed in accordance
with the Massachusetts State Electrical Code.
D.Â
Refuse, trash, and garbage. Refuse, trash, and garbage shall not
be permitted to accumulate in a manner that creates a potential or
real health hazard. It shall be the responsibility of the park owner
to insure that refuse does not accumulate for longer than a week,
and that it is kept covered in barrels or metal containers out of
reach of children or wild animals.
A.Â
Where an existing public sewer is to be utilized, the applicant shall
present such evidence as will show that such utilization is acceptable
to the Superintendent of Highways.
B.Â
When a sewage system is proposed which involves a discharge to the
waters under the control of the commonwealth, the applicant shall
present such evidence as will show that the waste treatment system
is approved by the appropriate department of the commonwealth. Notwithstanding
such approval, the Board may, based on special local conditions, impose
additional restrictions upon the installation of such a system.
These rules and regulations shall take effect on the date of
their adoption by the Board. On such date of adoption, all rules and
regulations previously adopted by the Board which are in conflict
with the rules and regulations shall be replaced.