The Holts Summit Planning and Zoning Commission decided to recommend proposed zoning code changes Thursday to the Board of Alderman that would affect mobile homes and mobile home parks.
The board will hold a public hearing during its regularly scheduled meeting March 8 to further discuss the proposed changes.
If passed, the changes would alter restrictions and requirements and place additional ones on new mobile home parks in the city. New parks could only be placed in areas zoned for them and would have to meet certain standards, including having a minimum lot area, two paved off-street parking spaces per home, and a FEMA-rated storm shelter no more than a five-minute walk from every resident.
The changes would ban single-wide mobile homes from any area not zoned for them but would allow double-wide mobile homes in residential areas.
The proposals were originally met with controversy during the commission's last meeting Dec. 21. The owner of a mobile home park in the area criticized the changes for not protecting existing mobile home parks from the new requirements, according to meeting minutes.
City Administrator Rick Hess said they reworded the changes to clarify existing parks would be grandfathered in.
"I know that was one of the big sticking points with everybody last time," Hess said. "It didn't really spell (grandfathering) out."
The city's current code allows residential housing to be built anywhere, even in light industry or commercial zoning, Hess added. The proposed changes would make it so homes could only be built in residential areas.
Blake Markus, an attorney representing mobile home parks in the area, spoke during the meeting Thursday and said the new wording properly excluded existing mobile home parks from the changes.
"We're very happy with the language; I think it protects us to the point that we expected it to," Markus said.
Ramona Huckstep, a member of the commission, said the city should create a list of current parks to ensure there is no confusion over what was existing if the changes are passed.
The changes would also switch different fees and rates involved with construction over to a fee schedule that would be controlled by the city's administration instead of flat rates.