Mat-Su Assembly expands mobile home park ban — for now

What you need to know:

• The Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly voted Tuesday to ban all new mobile home parks, regardless of how the homes are installed. A measure passed in August banned most new parks but left a loophole allowing such developments if the homes met certain plumbing standards and were installed on permanent foundations.
• Assembly members plan to develop a public hearing and oversight process that would allow new parks to open.
• Mobile home park regulations in Mat-Su date back to 1983. No new parks have been proposed in at least 15 years. The borough currently has about two dozen parks. The ban does not affect developments within the city limits of Houston, Wasilla or Palmer.

PALMER — The Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly voted on Tuesday to ban all new mobile home parks, regardless of how the homes are installed.

Assembly members said they plan to introduce legislation next year that would create a path for new parks, provided they are subject to a special oversight process.

The current ban applies to developments with three or more mobile homes on a 40,000-square-foot lot outside the city limits of Palmer, Wasilla and Houston. It does not affect existing mobile home parks. It was approved unanimously. 

Tuesday's update follows an August change proposed by former Assembly member Rob Yundt that eliminated a longstanding public hearing requirement for proposed mobile home parks and instead blocked most new developments.

But that partial ban also put in place what Assembly members characterized as a significant loophole: parks set to include mobile homes installed on permanent foundations and meeting certain plumbing standards required no special oversight beyond the same administrative permit used for duplexes and other multifamily developments.

The August change passed in a 3-3 vote, with one assembly member absent. Borough Mayor Edna DeVries acted as the tiebreaker, voting in favor of the legislation.

The new rule approved Tuesday closes the loophole created in August by inserting a blanket provision that states "mobile home parks are prohibited." It is designed to completely ban new mobile home parks until a public hearing and oversight process can be developed, said Assembly member Stephanie Nowers, who proposed the change and whose district includes Palmer.

“When we repealed the mobile home park permit, we left the Valley in a situation where a mobile home park could go in and the surrounding property owners wouldn’t have a voice to express concerns and ask questions in a public hearing setting in front of the planning commission,” Nowers said. “The intent of this is to just put a hold on mobile home parks until we can figure out a process, restore that public process and make sure people have a voice.”

[Proposal would add public oversight to some new Mat-Su housing projects]

The Mat-Su Assembly first passed mobile home park regulations in 1983 and updated them in 1996. No new parks have been proposed in Mat-Su in at least 15 years, borough officials said earlier this year.

Mat-Su is home to about two dozen mobile home parks outside Palmer, Houston and Wasilla city limits, officials said. About 10 of those parks were approved after the 1983 rules, with most applications processed in the 1980s and 1990s, Borough Planning Director Alex Strawn said. About 10 parks that predate the 1983 regulations were grandfathered into compliance, he said.

While the new ordinance bans mobile home parks regardless of foundation type, it does not categorize all mobile homes as “substandard housing.” That definition was included in a draft of the legislation considered Tuesday, but removed through an amendment proposed by Assembly member Maxwell Sumner.

Sumner said avoiding such a label protects mobile home owners from potential risks, including the possibility that their dwellings could be considered illegal under borough law. The amendment was approved unanimously.

Sumner said he understands the challenges those residents face because he has lived in and remodeled mobile homes.

“The people living there — they’re spending winters in a travel trailer or a mobile home — they’re not doing that by choice. They’re doing that because that’s the only option available to them,” he said. “If you take that bottom rung off of the housing ladder, it’s not going to elevate people, it’s going to keep them from climbing and elevating their situation.”

Sumner, whose district includes Wasilla, co-owns Sumner Company, a developer that he said focuses on single-family homes. He does not currently work on multifamily housing or mobile homes, he said. 

Sumner was appointed to the Assembly in October following the resignation of Yundt, who left the Assembly because he moved out of his district. Yundt was elected to the state Senate in November for District N, replacing incumbent David Wilson.

-- Contact Amy Bushatz at abushatz@matsusentinel.com