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Town of Lewiston, NY
Niagara County
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Lewiston 12-30-1970 by L.L. No. 3-1970 (Ch. 19A of the 1965 Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Camping grounds and parks — See Ch. 123.
Zoning — See Ch. 360.
For the purpose of this chapter, the terms used herein are defined as follows:
MOBILE HOME
A portable dwelling unit designed for single-family year-round residential occupancy and containing the same water supply, waste disposal and utility conveniences as immovable housing. It is designed to be occasionally movable and the wheels and towing attachments may be detachable or detached. Excluded from this classification are travel trailers, motorized homes, pickup coaches, camping trailers and similar vehicles designed for temporary occupancy.
A. 
No occupied mobile home shall be parked on any tract of land within the Town of Lewiston nor outside the corporate limits of any Village, except for the following:
(1) 
In a licensed mobile home park.
(2) 
On a farm, subject to obtaining a special use permit to be issued by the Town Zoning Officer showing name, address, specific location and duration of use, one mobile home, only so long and while it is utilized as living quarters by a relative or a full-time employee of the farm owner or operator, provided that the mobile home, when it is in a yard of a principal residential building, shall maintain all required setbacks, together with maintenance of a setback of at least 100 feet between the mobile home and the principal residential building.
It shall be unlawful within the Town of Lewiston and outside the corporate limits of any Village for any person or persons to construct or operate a mobile home park without first securing a written permit from the Planning Board of the Town of Lewiston and complying with the regulations of this chapter.
A. 
An application for a permit for a mobile home park, or the annual renewal thereof, shall be filed with the Zoning Officer and shall be accompanied by a fee, as set from time to time by resolution of the Town Board of the Town of Lewiston. The application for a permit or the renewal thereof shall be made on forms prescribed by the Planning Board of the Town of Lewiston, and shall include the name and address of the owner in fee of the tract. If the fee is vested in some person other than the applicant, a duly verified statement by the owner that the applicant is authorized by him to construct or maintain such mobile home park shall accompany the application.
[Amended 8-27-2018 by L.L. No. 4-2018]
B. 
Each permit or renewal thereof shall expire on the 31st day of December following the issuance thereof. If the original permit is granted on or after July 1, the applicant shall be required to pay 1/2 the annual permit fee for the period expiring December 31.
C. 
Before such permit may be issued, there must be a favorable recommendation by a majority of the Planning Board of the Town of Lewiston and compliance with all the provisions of this chapter and all other applicable ordinances of the Town of Lewiston. If a stormwater pollution prevention plan was submitted pursuant to § 223-4D(10) of this chapter, the Planning Board shall not recommend approval unless the SWPPP and proposed development comply with the performance and design criteria and standards set forth in Article II of Chapter 143 of the Town Code.
[Amended 12-27-2007 by L.L. No. 3-2007]
D. 
Any applicant for a mobile home park permit shall state that he, as owner or operator, shall be responsible for the proper maintenance and upkeep of the proposed park and shall further submit a park plan containing but not limited to, the following information:
(1) 
Boundaries and areas of the plot.
(2) 
Entrances, exits, roadways and walkways.
(3) 
Layout of mobile home sites.
(4) 
Perimeter planting of trees and shrubs to provide a screen for adjoining highway and adjacent property.
(5) 
Number and location of laundry facilities.
(6) 
Method and plan of sewage disposal.
(7) 
Method and plan of garbage and refuse disposal.
(8) 
Water supply.
(9) 
Electric power distribution and general lighting.
(10) 
Means of providing for surface water runoff. A stormwater pollution prevention plan (SWPPP) shall be submitted if required for the proposed development under Article II of Chapter 143 of the Town Code, together with the recommendation of the Stormwater Management Officer to approve, approve with modifications, or disapprove the SWPPP pursuant to § 143-5B of the Town Code.
[Amended 12-27-2007 by L.L. No. 3-2007]
(11) 
Owner's and operator's name, address and telephone numbers.
E. 
As security for the proper maintenance and upkeep of the proposed park, at the time of application for a permit or annual renewal thereof, the applicant shall furnish to the Town a surety bond issued by an acceptable corporate surety conditioned on such proper maintenance and upkeep being provided. Such surety bond shall be in the principal amount of $100 for each unit site to be provided and not less than a $5,000 minimum amount.
A. 
The minimum tract size shall be 50 acres and such tract shall front on a collector street as designated in the Comprehensive Plan of the Town or by the Planning Board, and such street shall be improved to collector street standards as set forth in the Town of Lewiston Subdivision Regulations. The Planning Board, after a public hearing, may authorize development of a mobile home park on a tract of less 50 acres if it shall find that such a use will not unduly interfere with other developments in the vicinity.
B. 
Front-, side- and rear-yard setback of 50 feet shall be maintained from the right-of-way line of any public road bordering the tract and property lines of adjoining properties to any mobile home in the park.
C. 
All interior roads shall be 40 feet wide, with 20 feet paved, with a minimum overall depth, including foundation base and wearing course, of 12 inches; and, upon completion, no road shall be dead-ended.
D. 
Entrances and exits shall be so located as to provide a minimum sight distance on the adjacent public road in both directions from the interior road of not less than three 300 feet at a point not less than 10 feet from the intersection.
E. 
Each mobile home park shall provide a water reservoir or an approved water supply system for fire protection use.
F. 
Each mobile home park shall set aside a portion of the total acreage as open space and recreation area, and a reasonable portion of such area shall be set aside for and equipped for recreational use in compliance with standards to be established by the Planning Board. A building shall be constructed within such area for the common use of residents for recreational purposes. Such building shall contain not less than 200 square feet of gross floor area, nor less than two square feet for each mobile home lot created within the park.
G. 
Appropriate streetlighting shall be installed on interior streets with the minimum number of lights being one at each intersection of interior streets with each other or with abutting public roads, and one at least every 200 feet where such intersections are more than 300 feet apart.
H. 
It is recommended that the design of the park not be barracks-like in nature, and not designed on the gridiron pattern with identical rectangular spaces. The angling of spaces and the clustering of mobile homes around culs-de-sac could be considered. Should this latter type of design be hampered by the minimum size of 6,000 square feet and space width of 65 feet, the Planning Board shall have the authority to waive those two requirements.
I. 
It is recommended that consideration in each instance be given to the construction of all utilities underground, and the Planning Board may require that all utilities be located underground.
J. 
Auxiliary parking. Central auxiliary parking areas shall be provided at a ratio of 200 square feet per mobile home lot in a location which is not contiguous to the lot serviced, such area being screened from lots and public highways by a coniferous hedge or other effective vegetation. Auxiliary parking areas are to be provided for parking trucks, maintenance equipment, boat trailers, utility trailers, travel trailers, incapacitated or unregistered vehicles and such similar equipment and vehicles.
K. 
Mobile home sales. No lot or plot for the display of mobile homes for sale or rental or for the conduct of a sales agency for mobile homes shall be permitted in any mobile home park, except that the owner of a mobile home or the owner or operator of a mobile home park shall be permitted to offer for sale or rental any mobile home located upon a mobile home lot within such park.
[Added 1-11-1971 by L.L. No. 1-1971]
A. 
Each mobile home lot or site shall have an area of at least 6,000 square feet with a minimum width of 65 feet and a minimum depth of 90 feet.
B. 
No mobile home shall be closer to another mobile home or structure within the park than 20 feet.
C. 
Front yard: twenty-foot setback from interior road margin.
D. 
No more than one mobile home, which may consist of more than one unit, may be placed on any lot or site and there shall be no more than one detached accessory structure on a lot or site set back at least five feet from any lot line.
E. 
Each lot or site shall be provided with approved connection for water, gas, sewer, electricity and telephone. Approval of the sanitary sewer and water supply systems must be obtained from the Niagara County Department of Health prior to Planning Board approval of the park.
F. 
A surfaced parking pad shall be provided on each site for one mobile home and two automobiles.
G. 
At least one shade tree of not less than one inch in diameter, one foot above the ground level, shall be planted on each lot or site, which shall be guaranteed in the manner and according to the conditions set forth in § 223-4E of this chapter. Each lot shall be graded and seeded to grass.
H. 
Each lot or site shall front upon an approved interior street.
I. 
No structural addition in excess of six by eight feet, or a total of 48 square feet, shall be permitted to any mobile home. Awnings may be provided at any site, provided they are not placed closer than 10 feet to an adjacent mobile home site line.
J. 
In addition to the structural addition permitted under § 223-6I above, any fuel-oil tank supplying a mobile home shall be effectively screened from view by a permanent structure. Such tank shall be mounted on incombustible supports and located at the rear of the mobile home at least five feet from any exit.
K. 
Each mobile home owner shall be required to enclose the area under the mobile home with a skirt, properly ventilated, within 60 days of arrival at the park.
L. 
The mobile home park owner shall adopt and enforce acceptable standards of maintenance for mobile home sites and shall fully comply with the requirements of Chapter 360, Zoning, § 360-59, in respect to all open areas and vacant mobile home sites.
A. 
Service buildings housing sanitation, laundry or other facilities shall be permanent structures complying with the New York State Building Code, New York State Sanitary Code, and any other applicable ordinances and statutes regulating buildings, electrical installations and plumbing and sanitation systems.
B. 
The service buildings shall be well lighted at all times of the day and night, shall be well ventilated with screened openings and constructed of moistureproof material, including painted woodwork, as shall permit repeated cleaning and washing. They shall be maintained at a temperature of at least 68° F. during the period from October 1 to May 1. The floors of such buildings shall be of water-impervious material.
Each lot shall be provided with at least one twenty-gallon garbage can with tight-fitting cover. The cans shall be kept in a sanitary condition at all times. It shall be the responsibility of the park operator to insure that garbage and rubbish shall be collected and properly disposed of outside the park as frequently as may be necessary to insure that garbage cans do not overflow. Exterior areas shall be free from organic and inorganic material that might become a health, accident or fire hazard.
A. 
The entire park shall be continuously policed to preclude the accumulation of litter, trash, discarded items or other debris.
B. 
Provision shall be made for the regular and continuing maintenance of the landscaping which was required as a condition of initial approval, and all portions of lots and other areas within the park which are not surfaced, covered by buildings or otherwise improved.
C. 
Snow and ice shall be promptly removed from interior roadways and sidewalks to provide for convenient and safe automobile and pedestrian travel.
The operator of the park or a duly authorized attendant shall be in responsible charge at all times to keep the park, its facilities and equipment in a clean, orderly and sanitary condition. The attendant shall be answerable, with the permittee, for any violation of this chapter to which the permittee is subject.
Before the park commences operation, the Building Inspector shall make an inspection of the premises to determine that all requirements of this chapter have been complied with. If it is found to be in compliance, the Building Inspector shall then issue a certificate of occupancy. No use of the park shall be permitted until such a certificate has been issued.
The operator of each mobile home park shall maintain a permanent written record of all persons occupying and using the facilities of such park, which shall be available to the Town Clerk upon reasonable request, and which shall include the following:
A. 
The name of each adult and the number of children occupying each mobile home.
B. 
The date of arrival at and departure from said park of each mobile home.
C. 
The name and address of the owner of each mobile home.
D. 
The registration number of each mobile home and the year and state in which registered.
E. 
A description of each mobile home, including make, model number, size and serial number.
The Town Zoning Officer shall have the authority to enter and inspect any mobile home park for purposes of health, safety and sanitation at any reasonable time. If, upon inspection, it shall be found that the permittee has violated any provision of this chapter, the Zoning Officer or the Planning Board shall have the power to revoke or suspend the permit and order the mobile homes removed or the mobile home park closed after notice and an opportunity to be heard.
Any person found guilty of violating any provision of this chapter, whether or not such violation shall be found sufficient by the Zoning Officer or the Planning Board for revocation of the permit, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than $100 and not more than 30 days' imprisonment, or both such fine and imprisonment. Each and every week that a violation of this chapter is permitted to exist shall constitute a separate offense.