Mobile Home Parks Goes Back to Planning Commission

Mat-Su Borough Assemblymember Stephanie Nowers sponsored a new ordinance to clarify the ban of mobile home parks. That ordinance was adopted in August. She asked to send it back to the Borough Planning Commission for review.

In what would become a contentious debate among the Assembly, the group ultimately decided to ban mobile home parks in the Borough. But the mobile home parks portion of the law allowed for public input. Once eliminated, mobile homes installed on permanent foundations could still be allowed with a multi-family permit. And that does not allow for public input because it’s an administrative permit.

The Planning Commission provided comments on the initial ordinance before it went to the Assembly in August. That backup document made it sound like mobile home parks were important for keeping affordable housing options. Then-Assemblymember Yundt clarified that his intention was actually the opposite. To completely get rid of mobile home parks.

Nowers states in the informational memo that staff say it’s more challenging to build mobile home parks now, but the repeal didn’t actually ban them. According to the memo, a developer could potentially park mobile homes on railroad ties and install septic and plumbing to meet the multi-family requirements. And that’s up to 18 units per acre.

The Assembly voted this week to refer to the Planning Commission new language that bans mobile home parks. The Commission will have 90 days to review the new language and provide comments. It is expected to come back to the Assembly after the review.