2023 Maine Revised Statutes › TITLE 30-A: MUNICIPALITIES AND COUNTIES › Part 2: MUNICIPALITIES › Subpart 6-A: PLANNING AND LAND USE REGULATION › Chapter 187: PLANNING AND LAND USE REGULATION › Subchapter 3: LAND USE REGULATION › 30-A §4358. Regulation of manufactured housing

§4358. Regulation of manufactured housing
1.  Definitions.
As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms have the following meanings.
A. "Manufactured housing" means a structural unit or units designed for occupancy and constructed in a manufacturing facility and transported, by the use of its own chassis or an independent chassis, to a building site. The term includes any type of building that is constructed at a manufacturing facility and transported to a building site where it is used for housing and may be purchased or sold by a dealer in the interim. For purposes of this section, 2 types of manufactured housing are included. Those 2 types are:
(1) Those units constructed after June 15, 1976, commonly called "newer mobile homes," that the manufacturer certifies are constructed in compliance with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development standards, meaning structures transportable in one or more sections, that in the traveling mode are 8 body feet or more in width and 40 body feet or more in length or, when erected on site, are 320 or more square feet, and that are built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as dwellings, with or without permanent foundations, when connected to the required utilities including the plumbing, heating, air conditioning or electrical systems contained in the unit.
(a) This term also includes any structure that meets all the requirements of this subparagraph except the size requirements and with respect to which the manufacturer voluntarily files a certification required by the Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and complies with the standards established under the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974, United States Code, Title 42, Section 5401, et seq.; and
(2) Those units commonly called "modular homes" that the manufacturer certifies are constructed in compliance with Title 10, chapter 951, and rules adopted under that chapter, meaning structures, transportable in one or more sections, that are not constructed on a permanent chassis and are designed to be used as dwellings on foundations when connected to required utilities, including the plumbing, heating, air-conditioning or electrical systems contained in the unit.   [PL 2023, c. 117, §1 (AMD).]
B. "Mobile home park" means a parcel of land under unified ownership approved by the municipality for the placement of 3 or more manufactured homes.   [PL 1989, c. 104, Pt. A, §45 (NEW); PL 1989, c. 104, Pt. C, §10 (NEW); PL 1989, c. 506, §1 (AMD).]
B-1. "Mobile home park lot" means the area of land on which an individual home is situated within a mobile home park and which is reserved for use by the occupants of that home. A municipality may require a lot to be designated on a mobile home park plan.   [PL 1989, c. 506, §2 (NEW).]
C. "Mobile home subdivision or development" means a parcel of land approved by the municipal reviewing authority under subchapter IV for the placement of manufactured houses on individually owned lots.   [PL 1989, c. 104, Pt. A, §45 (NEW); PL 1989, c. 104, Pt. C, §10 (NEW).]
D. "Permanent foundation" means:
(1) For "newer mobile homes," as defined in paragraph A, subparagraph (1), a foundation that conforms to the installation standards established by the Manufactured Housing Board; or
(2) For "modular homes," as defined in paragraph A, subparagraph (2), a foundation that conforms to the municipal building code or, in the absence of a municipal building code, a foundation that conforms to the Building Officials and Code Administrators National Code (1990).   [PL 1993, c. 487, §1 (RPR).]
E. "Pitched, shingled roof" means a roof with a pitch of 2 or more vertical units for every 12 horizontal units of measurement and which is covered with asphalt or fiberglass composition shingles or other materials, but specifically excludes corrugated metal roofing material.   [PL 1989, c. 104, Pt. A, §45 (NEW); PL 1989, c. 104, Pt. C, §10 (NEW).]
[PL 2023, c. 117, §1 (AMD).]
2.  Location of manufactured housing.
Municipalities shall permit manufactured housing to be placed or erected on individual house lots in a number of locations on undeveloped lots where single-family dwellings are allowed, subject to the same requirements as single-family dwellings, except as otherwise provided in this section.
A. For the locations required by this section, municipal ordinances may not require that manufactured housing on individual lots be greater than 14 feet in width, although municipalities may establish design criteria, including, but not limited to, a pitched, shingled roof; a permanent foundation; and exterior siding that is residential in appearance, provided that:
(1) The requirements do not have the effect of circumventing the purposes of this section; and
(2) The design requirements may not be used to prevent the relocation of any manufactured housing, regardless of its date of manufacture, that is legally sited within the municipality as of August 4, 1988.   [PL 1989, c. 104, Pt. A, §45 (NEW); PL 1989, c. 104, Pt. C, §10 (NEW).]
B. Providing one or more zones or locations where mobile home parks or mobile home subdivisions or developments are allowed does not constitute compliance with this section.   [PL 1989, c. 104, Pt. A, §45 (NEW); PL 1989, c. 104, Pt. C, §10 (NEW).]
C. This section does not prohibit municipalities from establishing controls on manufactured housing which are less restrictive than are permitted by this section.   [PL 1989, c. 104, Pt. A, §45 (NEW); PL 1989, c. 104, Pt. C, §10 (NEW).]
D. Municipalities may not prohibit manufactured housing, regardless of its date of manufacture, solely on the basis of a date of manufacture before June 14, 1976, or the failure of a unit to have been manufactured in accordance with the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974, United States Code, Title 42, Chapter 70. Municipalities may apply the design standards permitted by this section to all manufactured housing, regardless of its date of manufacture, and may apply reasonable safety standards to manufactured housing built before June 15, 1976, or not built in accordance with the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974, United States Code, Title 42, Chapter 70.   [RR 1993, c. 1, §75 (COR).]
E. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any modular home that meets construction standards for state-certified manufactured homes adopted pursuant to Title 10, section 9042 must be allowed in all zones where other single-family homes are allowed.   [PL 1995, c. 199, §1 (AMD).]
[PL 1995, c. 199, §1 (AMD).]
3.  Regulation of mobile home parks.
This subsection governs a municipality's regulation of mobile home parks.
A. Except as required under Title 38, or an ordinance adopted pursuant to Title 38, a municipality shall not require:
(1) The size of any mobile home park lot served by a public sewer system to be larger than the smaller of:
(a) Six thousand five hundred square feet; or
(b) The area of the smallest residential lot permitted in the municipality;
(2) The size of any mobile home park lot with on-site subsurface waste water disposal to be larger than 20,000 square feet; or
(3) The size of any mobile home park lot served by a central on-site subsurface waste water disposal system approved by the Department of Health and Human Services to be larger than 12,000 square feet, provided that a municipality may require that the overall density of the mobile home park be no more than one home for every 20,000 square feet.   [PL 1989, c. 104, Pt. A, §45 (NEW); PL 1989, c. 104, Pt. C, §10 (NEW); PL 1989, c. 506, §3 (RPR); PL 2003, c. 689, Pt. B, §6 (REV).]
B. A municipality shall not require the overall area of a mobile home park to be greater than the combined area of its mobile home park lots plus:
(1) The area required for road rights-of-way;
(2) The area required for buffer strips, if any; and
(3) For mobile home parks served by a public sewer, an additional area for open space, storage or recreation, as those terms are defined by local ordinances applicable to all residential developments. A municipality shall not require this additional area to be greater than 10% of the combined area of the individual lots within a mobile home park; and
(4) The area of any setbacks required under Title 38 or an ordinance adopted pursuant to Title 38.   [PL 1989, c. 104, Pt. A, §45 (NEW); PL 1989, c. 104, Pt. C, §10 (NEW); PL 1989, c. 506, §3 (RPR).]
C. Except as required under Title 38 or an ordinance adopted pursuant to Title 38, a municipality shall not require setbacks that have the effect of requiring lots larger than those permitted under paragraph A.   [PL 1989, c. 104, Pt. A, §45 (NEW); PL 1989, c. 104, Pt. C, §10 (NEW); PL 1989, c. 506, §3 (RPR).]
D. Notwithstanding paragraph C, a municipality may require that mobile homes on lots adjacent to a public road be set back from the public road according to requirements applicable to other residential developments.   [RR 1993, c. 1, §76 (COR).]
E. A municipality shall not require road frontage on individual lots within a mobile home park that has the effect of requiring a manufactured home on the lot to be placed parallel to an adjacent private or public roadway.   [PL 1989, c. 506, §3 (NEW).]
F. Except as provided by paragraph G, municipal road standards shall not apply to private roads within a mobile home park unless the developer intends to offer the roads to the municipality for acceptance as town ways.   [PL 1989, c. 506, §3 (NEW).]
G. A municipality may require by ordinance or rule that privately owned roads within a mobile home park:
(1) Be built according to acceptable engineering standards and with a professional engineer's seal as required by the Manufactured Housing Board;
(2) Have a right-of-way up to 23 feet in width, 20 feet of which the municipality may require to be paved; and
(3) Conform to reasonable safety standards applicable to intersections with public ways adjacent to the mobile home park.   [PL 1989, c. 506, §3 (NEW).]
H. The Manufactured Housing Board shall develop standards for construction of roads within a mobile home park no later than January 1, 1990. The board shall submit these standards to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over legal affairs matters for that committee's review.   [PL 1989, c. 506, §3 (NEW).]
I. A municipality may require buffer strips, not to exceed 50 feet, including individual lot setbacks, along any mobile home park boundary which abuts land used for residential use if the per-acre density of homes within the mobile home park is at least 2 times greater than:
(1) The density of residential development on immediately adjacent parcels of land; or
(2) If the immediately adjacent parcels of land are undeveloped, the maximum net residential density permitted by applicable municipal ordinances or state law.
No structures, streets or utilities may be placed in the buffer strip, except that utilities may cross a buffer strip to provide services to a mobile home park. Municipalities may impose reasonable natural screening requirements within the first 25 feet of the buffer strip as measured from the exterior boundaries of the mobile home park if the requirements are no greater than those for other residential developments.   [PL 1989, c. 506, §3 (NEW).]
J. A municipality shall not require electrical utilities and telephone lines to be located underground within a mobile home park. A municipality shall allow a developer to install utilities anywhere within the mobile home park.   [PL 1989, c. 506, §3 (NEW).]
K. Except as required under Title 38, or an ordinance adopted pursuant to Title 38, a municipality may not enact or enforce land use regulations or ordinances, including, but not limited to, subdivision regulations or ordinances, which limit the number of lots in a mobile home park, which circumvent the intent of this section or which conflict with the provisions of this section.   [PL 1989, c. 506, §3 (NEW).]
L. Notwithstanding any provision in this subsection, a person developing or expanding a mobile home park has the burden of proving that development will not pollute a public water supply or aquifer or violate any state law relating to land development, subdivision or use.   [PL 1989, c. 506, §3 (NEW).]
M. A municipality shall permit mobile home parks to expand and to be developed in a number of environmentally suitable locations in the municipality with reasonable consideration being given to permit existing mobile home parks to expand in their existing locations. A municipality may not select a location for a mobile home park development which is not reasonably suitable because of:
(1) Prior lot division;
(2) Locational setting within the municipality;
(3) Natural features; or
(4) Other similar factors.
This paragraph is effective January 1, 1990.   [PL 1989, c. 506, §3 (NEW).]
[RR 1993, c. 1, §76 (COR); PL 2003, c. 689, Pt. B, §6 (REV).]
4.  Certification of payment of sales tax.
No municipality may allow the construction or location of any new manufactured housing within the municipality by any person other than a dealer licensed by the State with a sales tax certificate, without:
A. A bill of sale indicating the name, address, dealer registration number and sales tax certificate number of the person who sold or provided the manufactured housing to the buyer locating the housing in the municipality; or   [PL 1989, c. 104, Pt. A, §45 (NEW); PL 1989, c. 104, Pt. C, §10 (NEW).]
B. If no such bill of sale is presented, evidence of certification of payment of the sales tax in accordance with Title 36, section 1760, subsection 40, and Title 36, section 1952‑B.   [PL 1989, c. 104, Pt. A, §45 (NEW); PL 1989, c. 104, Pt. C, §10 (NEW).]
In municipalities which require any type of permit for manufactured housing, the permit is deemed to be not approved or valid until payment of the sales tax has been certified.
[PL 1989, c. 104, Pt. A, §45 (NEW); PL 1989, c. 104, Pt. C, §10 (NEW).]
SECTION HISTORY
PL 1989, c. 104, §§A45,C10 (NEW). PL 1989, c. 506, §§1-3 (AMD). RR 1993, c. 1, §§75,76 (COR). PL 1993, c. 299, §1 (AMD). PL 1993, c. 487, §1 (AMD). PL 1995, c. 199, §1 (AMD). PL 1995, c. 625, §A35 (AMD). PL 2003, c. 689, §B6 (REV). PL 2023, c. 117, §1 (AMD).