Housing Ordinances Adopted
Council City Hall was crowded for a hearing on June 17th where citizens could voice their opinions on two different ordinances. Each speaker was given three minutes to address the council.
All council members were present, as was city attorney Stefanie Bonney, who attended the meeting remotely and who had helped draft the updated ordinances.
The first ordinance, No. 533, pertained to mobile and manufactured homes. Standards were set that allow manufactured homes to be placed within city limits as long as they look similar to other homes within a neighborhood. They must have a foundation, and meet the requirements of other residential homes, including set back requirements, side and rear yard requirements, access, and they must have parking for vehicles and meet aesthetic requirements. The city building inspector must issue a permit for manufactured homes, and each section must have a label stating it complies with federal manufactured homes construction and safety standards.
Each manufactured home must also be a minimum of 1,000 square feet.
About mobile homes, the ordinance states that any mobile home on wheels, built before 1976, for use on public highways , which has sleeping, cooking, and plumbing facilities and which is intended for human occupancy, is prohibited in the city.
No member of the public who attended the meeting commented on this ordinance and it was approved by the council.
Meeting attendees were interested in the second ordinance, No. 534, which regulates land use in residential, commercial, and industrial districts. The city did away with the sub-categories of each zoning classification and consolidated everything into either residential, commercial, or industrial districts. They have a land use chart of these districts, but the chart was not presented at the meeting.
Most of the people who attended the hearing were in favor of allowing businesses to have a home living space for the owner or manager of the business, separate from the business but in the same building.
A number of people also favored having a living quarters rental space in a business that could be rented to anyone (not necessarily the owner or manager of the business.) The council relented on this issue and said they would determine whether a space in a business could be rented as living quarters to someone not associated with the business on a case-by-case basis. Any business owner wishing to do so would need to apply for a conditional use permit to rent a living space in their business to someone not associated with the business.
The council also approved the adoption of this revised ordinance, making it clear that if what you were doing was legal before the updated ordinance went into effect, that action would be grandfathered in and remain legal.
In other business, the council agreed to let Sheriff Ryan Zollman and his deputies temporarily house any dogs found at large within the county in the Council area at the city kennel.
