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Andrew King wants to put a manufactured home on land he owns next to his house on 1205 Pine Ave. in Buena Vista. However, city zoning rules forbid manufactured homes in the R-3 district where the land is located.
King appeared before the city’s Planning Commission a couple of months ago to request a zoning amendment that would allow manufactured homes in an R-3 district with a conditional use permit. He said he prefers to have a manufactured home over a modular home because the former is much less expensive than the latter.
The difference between the two types of homes is that manufactured homes are based on federal guidelines for factory-built homes while modular homes follow the Virginia code regulations for site-built homes. In the neighborhood where King lives, there are manufactured homes that were placed there prior to when the city adopted zoning regulations to forbid the homes in an R-3 district about 20 years ago.
The Planning Commission, in voting to recommend changes to update the city’s zoning regulations for manufactured homes, opted to not include the language King sought that would have allowed manufactured homes in an R-3 District with a CUP.
The zoning text amendments recommended by the Planning Commission were considered by City Council last Thursday, Feb. 2. King asked Council to consider his request for allowing manufactured homes by CUP in the R-3 District.
City Attorney Brian Kearney advised Council that it might want to consider rezoning the area where King lives from R-3 to R-4, which does allow manufactured homes with a CUP. That way, Council would not be opening the door to allowing manufactured homes anywhere in the city that is zoned R-3, which is the designation for neighborhoods with mostly singlefamily homes.
A motion by Cheryl Hickman to table consideration of the zoning text amendments so Council and the Planning Commission could further study the issues raised passed unanimously.
