The denial of a variance to put a modular home on the
regulations.
The county commission denied Brian McDaniel’s request
Tuesday for a variance to install a 3,000-foot modular home northeast of
due to a regulation in the North Fork Planning Area that prohibits mobile
homes, including manufactured and modular homes.
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| This is the proposed site for the modular home |
McDaniel says 70 percent of the home would be constructed
off-site and would save him $150,000-$250,000 plus the building time.
“When it was first suggested to look into a modular home I
said, ‘No way. I do not want a trailer house,’” he said. “But then I checked it
out. A modular home has to meet or exceed the local building code, and I can’t
put it anywhere unless is meets code.”
While the county assessor said the installation of the home
would not devalue any of the other homes in the neighborhood, neighbors, like
Donald Frisbee, say the county needs to uphold its current regulations.
“We need to stick to what planning and zoning came up with
(regulation denying mobile and modular homes on the
Fork
because it opens up the floodgates to more and more (modular homes in the
area).”
Other neighbors said the home would be as good or better
than homes already in the area.
But the commissioners were warned by County Attorney Bryan
Skoric that granting a variance in McDaniel’s case could open the county up to
legal action.
“But you can decide to change the rules and it becomes a
public process, where everybody has a say,” Skoric said. “Budgetary issues
alone do not allow you to grant a variance and it would set you up to have
homes in here on a case-by-case basis.”
The commissioners voted unanimously to deny the variance
request to protect the county from legal action.
“There’s no reason I can come up with to grant the variance,
other than it will cost a little more money,” Commissioner Joe Tilden said.
“Also, if enough people opposed it up there, they could take legal actions
against you and us.”
Linda Gillett, county planning director, said all modular
homes are prohibited on the
South Fork under current regulations.
McDaniel said the county needs to update its regulations to
fit the changing times and advancements in modular home production.
“I wanted a 3,000-foot home and it is hard to make that
happen any other way,” he said.
“Everybody has to live within a budget, but a lot of people
aren’t able to do what they want – build their dream homes – because of
regulations like this.”
