A.
Purpose and intent. This section is established in order to encourage
the development and maintenance of attractive and fitting sites for
mobile homes, so called, and to protect and foster the health, safety,
and welfare of the residents of mobile home developments and, in general,
preservation of the environment and appearance of the areas within
which such parks are established and maintained. It is the intent
of the City that mobile home parks serve the needs of the elderly
and retired population of moderate means, who no longer need or can
maintain a larger home. In order to provide a quiet, safe, and convenient
environment for the elderly residents of mobile home parks, the special
permit granting authority may, as a condition of a special permit,
provide for occupancy of mobile home parks by persons 55 years of
age and older and by members of their families. All mobile home parks
granted a special permit may be required to be licensed by the Board
of Health as provided by MGL c. 140, § 32F, and by the Massachusetts
Department of Environmental Protection, where applicable.[1]
B.
Special conditions.
(1)
No special permit for a new or enlarged mobile home park shall
be authorized by the special permit granting authority (SPGA) except
on the express condition that the operation of such park shall be
duly licensed by the Board of Health of the City of Taunton, and failure
to obtain, renew, or comply with the terms of such license shall render
the special permit void.[2]
(2)
Except as otherwise provided herein, or in a particular special
permit, the design and construction of a mobile home park shall be
in general conformity with the rules and regulations of the Taunton
Planning Board under the Subdivision Control Law,[3] so far as the SPGA shall deem appropriate and applicable,
but dimensional and use regulations of this chapter shall not apply,
except as specified herein. (The rules and regulations of the Planning
Board are on file and available for inspection at the Department of
Planning and Conservation.)[4]
(3)
No home occupations or commercial or other nonresidential uses
shall be permitted as either principal or accessory uses in mobile
home parks, except for service or recreation facilities for the residents
thereof.
C.
Basic regulations.
(1)
Area. No mobile home park shall be less than 20 acres in area,
exclusive of roads and the area provided for recreation, service,
and other permanent installations.
(2)
Utilities.
(a)
All mobile home parks shall require public sewage and water
systems.
(b)
Where an existing public sewer or water service is to be utilized,
the applicant shall present such evidence as will show that such utilization
is acceptable to the Department of Public Works for the City of Taunton.
(c)
When a sewage system is proposed which involves a discharge
to the waters of the state, the applicant shall present such evidence
as will show that his waste treatment system is approved by the appropriate
department of the commonwealth.
(3)
Density of use.
(a)
There shall be no more than six mobile home units with accessories
per acre, exclusive of park and access roads and the area to be set
aside for the use of recreation, service, and other permanent facilities.
There shall be at least a fifty-foot frontage on all mobile home lots.
(b)
The occupied area of a mobile home lot shall not exceed 35%
of the lot area.
(c)
Mobile homes shall not be located closer than 10 feet to the
nearest park street; and no mobile home accessory building closer
than five feet to a park street. In addition, mobile homes shall be
located at least 15 feet from abutting mobile homes and mobile home
accessory buildings shall be located at least 10 feet from abutting
mobile homes.
[Amended 6-14-2016]
(d)
Each mobile home shall be located with at least a forty-foot
setback from any park property boundary.
[Amended 6-14-2016]
(4)
(5)
Street and services.
(a)
The street system shall conform to construction standards set
forth in the rules and regulations relative to the construction and
paving of streets in subdivisions in the City of Taunton and shall
have direct connection to a public street or highway sufficient to
satisfy the safety requirements of the Department of Public Works,
the Chief of the Fire Department and the rules and regulations of
the Planning Board. The maintenance of these streets shall be the
responsibility of the mobile home park developer and operator.
(b)
No street in a mobile home park shall be located in a floodplain
district.
(c)
There shall be provided central facilities for recreation and
services, such as laundry, which shall be available to all mobile
home park residents.
(6)
Buffer zones and open space.
(a)
The developer shall provide for a buffer zone of at least 40
feet, with appropriate vegetation, between the mobile home park and
any adjacent property and shall establish at least a forty-foot buffer
zone where such a mobile home park shall be adjacent to main highways,
roads, and so forth, to provide appropriate vegetation in the buffer
zone between the mobile home park and that passageway.
(b)
No mobile home lot in a mobile home park shall be located within
40 feet of any stream, pond, lake, or other waterway or in any floodplain
district duly established within this chapter.
(7)
Units for sale. 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 that new park. Used mobile homes offered for sale by
individual mobile home owners must be displayed on a pad on a lot
within that park but may be sold either for use within that park to
an individual or the park owner or operator or for use outside that
park. The park owner or operator may also display those units on a
pad on a lot for resale within that park premises. Nothing in this
section shall be construed as permitting the storage of unoccupied
units in any park, for sale in the ordinary course of business, or
as inventory, or the sale of such units except in those districts,
as determined by this chapter, wherein such commercial activity is
permissible with or without permits from the proper authority.
[Amended 6-23-2015]
No trailer, mobile home, or like structure shall be used for
living quarters anywhere in the City of Taunton, except as provided
in Subsections A and B below.
A.
Temporary use. Any owner or occupier of a residence which has been
destroyed or damaged by fire, flood, or other natural holocaust to
the extent that it is uninhabitable may place a mobile home on the
site as temporary living quarters for a period not to exceed six months,
renewable for six additional months, while the residence is being
rebuilt. Any such mobile home shall be subject to the provisions of
the State Sanitary Code.
