Chapter 9 - MOBILE HOMES AND MOBILE HOME PARKS AND CAMPING AREAS

Footnotes:

--- (1) --- Cross reference— Conservation commission created to promote and develop natural resources, natural aesthetic areas, open areas, streams, shores, etc., § 2-66 et seq.; planning commission created, § 2-111 et seq.; animals, Ch. 4; buildings and building regulations, Ch. 5; fire prevention and protection, Ch. 6; open fires restricted, § 6-2; nuisances, Ch. 10; parks and recreation, Ch. 11; peddlers and solicitors, Ch. 12; solid waste, Ch. 16; excavations in public streets and highways, § 17-111; streets, sidewalks and other public places, Ch. 17; subdivisions, Ch. 18; zoning, App. A.

State Law reference— Mobile homes, G.L. 1956, § 31-44-1 et seq.

ARTICLE I. - IN GENERAL#

Secs. 9-1—9-25. - Reserved.#

ARTICLE II. - MOBILE AND MANUFACTURED HOME PARKS#

Footnotes:

--- (2) --- Cross reference— Subdivisions, Ch. 18; zoning, App. A.

DIVISION 1. - GENERALLY#

Sec. 9-26. - Definitions.#

The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this article, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:

Collector means the tax collector of the town.

Licensee means any person or persons, firm or corporation receiving a license to conduct, operate or maintain a mobile and manufactured home park.

Licensing authority means the town council.

Mobile or manufactured home means a detached residential unit designed: (1)

For a long-term occupancy and containing sleeping accommodations, a flush toilet and a tub or shower bath and kitchen facilities and having both permanent plumbing and electrical connections for attachment to an outside system.

(2)

To be transported on its own wheels or on a flatbed or other trailer or detachable wheels; and

(3)

To be placed on pads, piers and tie-downs at the site where it is to be occupied as a residence complete and ready for occupancy, except for minor and incidental unpacking and assembly operations and connection to utilities systems.

Mobile or manufactured home park means a plot of ground upon which four (4) or more mobile homes, occupied for residential purposes are located.

Mobile or manufactured home space means a parcel of land within a mobile home park occupied or designed to be occupied by one (1) mobile home.

Unit means a mobile or manufactured home space in a mobile home park.

(Ch. 48, § 2, 8-2-76)

Cross reference— Definitions and rules of construction generally, § 1-2.

Sec. 9-27. - General operation requirements.#

(a)

Mobile and manufactured home space dimensional requirements shall conform to the lot dimensional regulations as set forth in the town's zoning ordinance.

(b)

The minimum lot area established by these regulations may be increased by the town council if the report of the state department of health indicates that greater lot areas are warranted for individual sewerage disposal systems.

(c)

All roads within the mobile and manufactured home park shall conform with the town's road construction requirements, section 17-71 et seq., and shall be maintained in good condition by the owner or licensee of the mobile and manufactured home park.

(d)

The licensee or owner shall set aside open space suitable for recreation purposes. A minimum of twenty-five (25) percent of the total land area of the park shall be required to be set aside for this purpose. The land selected by the licensee or owner shall be approved by the town council if the council is satisfied that the land selected is suitable in topography, access, and location.

(Ch. 48, § 4, 8-2-76)

Cross reference— Buildings and building regulations, Ch. 5; street construction, § 17-71 et seq.

Sec. 9-28. - Sanitary requirements.#

(a)

Water supply and sanitary systems shall be in conformance with the state department of health requirements.

(b)

Each mobile or manufactured home lot shall be provided with an approved electrical connection.

(c)

Licensees shall furnish at least one (1) refuse can with tight-fitting cover for each occupied mobile or manufactured home lot or use any approved collection method in accordance with the state health sanitation laws. Refuse shall be collected and removed at least once per week and in such manner that no nuisance shall be maintained. It shall be the responsibility of each licensee to maintain proper sanitary conditions with respect to waste and refuse disposal.

(Ch. 48, § 5, 8-2-76)

Cross reference— Nuisances, Ch. 10; solid waste, Ch. 16.

Sec. 9-29. - Registration of occupants.#

(a)

Each licensee under the provisions of this article shall keep a register in which the following information shall be recorded forthwith upon the letting of each mobile or manufactured home space. Such information shall be furnished to the licensing authority by filing same with the town clerk.

(1)

Full name of mobile or manufactured home owner.

(2)

Make, model, size, serial number, year of manufacture of mobile or manufactured home.

(3)

State in which registered and registration number, if any.

(b)

Each licensee shall keep or cause to be kept, for taxation purposes, the following information: The name of the state and the registration or license number of each vehicle; the make, year, length, and serial number of each mobile or manufactured home stationed, maintained, occupied or registered at the mobile and manufactured home park on the thirty-first of December of each year. Such information shall be filed with the tax assessor between January first and January fifteenth in each year.

(c)

The licensee shall keep a record containing the names of all occupants and the number of school age children living in each mobile or manufactured home together with the dates of arrival and departure of each mobile home. Such record shall be open for inspection by all proper authorities as designated by the town council.

(Ch. 48, § 6, 8-2-76)

Sec. 9-30. - Violations.#

(a)

Each day that any violation of this article shall continue shall be considered as a separate or distinct offense.

(b)

In addition to any penalties otherwise applicable for violations of this article, the town may bring an action against any property owner who fails to comply with the requirements of this article. Such actions shall be brought, at the election of the town, in the superior court having jurisdiction where the violation occurred or is likely to occur or in the Hopkinton Municipal Court. The town may seek restraining orders and injunctive relief to restrain and enjoin violations or threatened violations of this article.

(Ch. 48, § 7, 8-2-76; Ch. 206, § 1, 10-15-07)

Sec. 9-31. - Fire protection.#

Every mobile and manufactured home park shall be equipped at all times with one (1) fire extinguisher kept in good working order, and which is approved by the local fire department of the town, located not further than two hundred (200) feet from each mobile home lot.

(Ch. 48, § 8, 8-2-76)

Secs. 9-32—9-45. - Reserved.#

DIVISION 2. - LICENSE#

Sec. 9-46. - Required.#

No person shall maintain or operate a mobile and manufactured home park without having first obtained a license from the licensing authority. These regulations shall apply to all existing mobile and manufactured home parks or future mobile and manufactured home parks.

(Ch. 48, § 2, 8-2-76)

Sec. 9-47. - Application.#

(a)

Application for a mobile and manufactured home park license shall be made in writing to the town council and shall be filed with the town clerk at least four (4) weeks prior to the special or regularly scheduled town council meeting at which hearing on such application is sought.

(b)

Such application shall contain the following information:

(1)

The name and address of the applicant.

(2)

The name and address of the owner of the land on which the mobile and manufactured home park is to be established.

(3)

A description of the facilities intended to be installed on the proposed mobile and manufactured home park and the services to be available to the persons residing therein.

(c)

Any person proposing to operate or maintain a mobile and manufactured home park within the town shall file in duplicate a preliminary plat in black line or blue line print drawn to the scale of sixty (60) feet or less to one (1) inch together with a filing fee of one hundred dollars ($100.00) plus ten dollars ($10.00) per lot payable to the town together with the names and addresses of all owners of abutting land according to the latest land evidence records of the town. Such plat shall contain the following information:

(1)

Name of mobile and manufactured home park, name and address of owner or owners, name of the engineer or surveyor, date, north point, and scale.

(2)

Boundary line of mobile and manufactured home park.

(3)

Any existing watercourses, street rights-of-way, utility lines and easements.

(4)

Proposed street rights-of-way, curblines, and street names; easements; type of water system; type of sewage system; surface and storm drainage sewers; space lines; mobile and manufactured home setback lines; and street trees.

(5)

Dimensions as follows: widths of street rights-of-way; bearings and distances of lot lines, right-of-way lines and subdivision boundaries; areas of lots; curve data; diameters and lengths of water lines; sanitary sewers, surface and drainage sewers, if any.

(6)

Existing contours at intervals of no greater than one (1) foot.

(7)

Location of proposed markers.

(8)

Certificate of the state department of health that the mobile and manufactured home park area meets state sanitary requirements.

(Ch. 48, § 3(a—c), 8-2-76)

Cross reference— Zoning, App. A.

Sec. 9-48. - Approval of preliminary plat.#

The town council will consider the preliminary plat for the mobile and manufactured home park and the accompanying material and will inspect the proposed mobile and manufactured home park and will approve, subject to modification, or disapprove the preliminary plat within sixty-six (66) days of receipt. The town council will return one (1) copy of the preliminary plat to the applicant with the statement of approval subject to modification, and the required modification, or disapproval and the reasons for disapproval noted on the plat.

(Ch. 48, § 3(d), 8-2-76)

Sec. 9-49. - Final plat—When required.#

Within one (1) year after approval of the preliminary plat of a proposed mobile and manufactured home park, the applicant shall file with the town council three (3) copies of the final plat, one (1) on linen tracing cloth and two (2) prints on heavy paper. The final plat shall consist of the preliminary plat with the incorporation of all recommended changes.

(Ch. 48, § 3(e)(1), 8-2-76)

Sec. 9-50. - Same—Council action.#

(a)

The town council will fix a date for a public hearing to be held within thirty-two (32) days of the filing of the final plat with the town council. At least five (5) days prior to the hearing, the town council will give written notice, by certified mail, to the applicant and to owners of land abutting the mobile and manufactured home park and shall also give public notice in a newspaper of general circulation in such town.

(b)

The town council will indicate its approval or disapproval of the final plat within thirty-six (36) days of the submission of the plat; otherwise such plat shall be deemed to be approved and a certificate to that effect shall be issued by the town council on demand. The council shall enter the certificate of approval on all copies of the final plat and will record the tracing cloth copy in the office of the town clerk. One (1) paper copy will be forwarded to the planning board and one (1) will be retained by the town council.

(Ch. 48, § 3(e)(2), 8-2-76)

Secs. 9-51—9-70. - Reserved.#

ARTICLE III. - CAMPING AREAS#

Sec. 9-71. - Definitions.#

The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this article, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:

Camping area means any tract or parcel of land set aside for use by persons paying a fee to camp there in tents, similar portable structures, vehicles designed for use in camping or camping trailers, so-called, or vehicles designed to be drawn by vehicles or self-propelled and occupied as a dwelling or used for sleeping purposes.

Trailer coach or mobile home means any portable structure or vehicle designed to be drawn by vehicles or self-propelled and occupied as a dwelling or used for sleeping purposes.

(Ch. 26, § 10, 12-1-69)

Cross reference— Definitions and rules of construction generally, § 1-2.

Sec. 9-72. - License required.#

No person shall maintain or operate a camping area within the town without a license for the same as provided in this article. No person shall locate or maintain a trailer coach or mobile home within the town except in a camping area, in accordance with the provisions of this article unless such trailer coach or mobile home meets the requirements of the town building code; provided, however, that any trailer coach or mobile home presently located and being maintained in the Town of Hopkinton prior to the effective date of former chapter 18 of the ordinances of the town regarding regulating the location of single trailers in the town and any trailer coach or mobile home located and maintained in the town after the effective date of former chapter 18 under a valid license issued under former chapter 18 may be continued to be located and maintained in its present location in the town and may be replaced by a replacement trailer coach or mobile home on the same location.

(Ch. 26, § 1, 12-1-69)

Editor's note— Chapter 18 has been repealed.

Sec. 9-73. - Procedure for applying for license.#

(a)

Application for a camping area license shall be made in writing to the town council and shall be filed with the town clerk at least four (4) weeks prior to the special or regularly scheduled town council meeting at which hearing on such application is sought.

(b)

Such application shall contain the following information:

(1)

The name and address of the applicant.

(2)

The name and address of the owner of the land on which the camping area is to be established.

(3)

A description of the facilities intended to be installed on the proposed camping area and the services to be available to the persons camping there.

(4)

Evidence that the applicant is owner or lessee of the land on which the camping area is to be established.

(c)

Such application shall be accompanied by the following:

(1)

A plat prepared and certified by a registered professional engineer in the state of the proposed camping area showing its area and the names and addresses of all property owners adjoining or within two hundred (200) feet of the proposed camping area.

(2)

Application fee of one hundred dollars ($100.00) to defray the expense of administering this article.

(3)

Certificate of the state department of health that the camping area meets state requirements.

(4)

Certificate of the town forest warden that the fire prevention facilities intended to be installed on the proposed camping area are adequate, that fire prevention measures intended to be followed at the proposed camping area are adequate and that the proposed camping area will otherwise present a safe environment for camping.

(d)

The town clerk shall refuse to accept any application not containing the information specified in (b) above or not accompanied by the plat, fee and certificates specified in (c) above.

(e)

Upon receipt of a proper application the town clerk shall send, by regular mail, notice of such application and the date, time and place of the hearing thereon to each of the property owners adjoining or within two hundred (200) feet of the proposed location, as shown on the plat accompanying the application. Such notice shall be sent at least three (3) weeks prior to the town council meeting at which such application is to be considered. The town clerk shall also cause the application to be advertised in a newspaper of general circulation in the county once a week during the two (2) weeks prior to the town council meeting at which such application is to be considered.

(Ch. 26, § 2, 12-1-69)

Sec. 9-74. - Standards to govern issuance of license.#

No license shall be granted under the provisions of this article unless the following standards are met: (1)

The proposed camping area must have an area of at least twenty (20) acres.

(2)

No facilities or campsites on the proposed camping area shall be located within two hundred (200) feet of any property not owned or leased by the applicant or any public highway.

(3)

No individual campsite within the camping area shall be less than fifteen hundred (1,500) square feet in area.

(4)

At least ten (10) percent of the total campground area shall be set aside for common recreation facilities for occupants of the camping area.

(5)

The camping area shall be separated from view from adjacent property not included in the camping area and from the public highways either by natural screening or by a stockade-type fence.

(Ch. 26, § 3, 12-1-69)

Cross reference— Fire prevention and protection, Ch. 6.

Sec. 9-75. - Hearing on issuance of license.#

A hearing on the issuance of a camping area license shall be held at a special or regularly scheduled town council meeting. After hearing, the license shall be granted forthwith if the standards outlined in this article are met and the proposed location of the camping area is found to be compatible with the character and land use of the surrounding neighborhood.

(Ch. 26, § 4, 12-1-69)

Sec. 9-76. - Terms of license.#

Any license granted under this article shall be on the following terms: (1)

The license shall not be transferable. A change of control of a corporation shall invalidate any license issued to such corporation and a new license must be acquired by the corporation if a change of control takes place.

(2)

The license shall be revocable by the town council for violation of any of the provisions of this article or upon evidence presented by the state health department or town forest warden that the camping area is unhealthy or unsafe or that adequate health and safety measures are not being followed.

(3)

The license shall also be revocable by the town council for any violation, committed on the premises, of the provisions of any other ordinance or statute or for maintaining or allowing the maintenance of a nuisance on the premises.

(4)

The licensee shall permit inspections of the camping area at reasonable times by the town police.

(Ch. 26, § 5, 12-1-69)

Sec. 9-77. - Expiration and renewal of licenses.#

All licenses issued under the authority of this article shall expire on December 31 of each year. Such licenses shall be renewed by following the procedure outlined in section 9-73 except that a new plat and certificate of the state health department and forest warden need not be filed unless there is to be a change in the facilities from the previous year.

(Ch. 26, § 6, 12-1-69)

Sec. 9-78. - Operation of licensed areas.#

(a)

Camping areas may be open and operated during the period March 1 to December 31 only and camping areas must be vacant during the months of January and February of each year.

(b)

The operator of a camping area shall not lease space for periods of longer than two (2) weeks, renewal at the option of the operator, provided, however, that no person may lease space in a camping area for more than six (6) months in each ten-month operating season unless such person first provides the town clerk's office with information pertaining to his, her or their number, age, and identity.

(c)

The operator of the camping area shall maintain appropriate boundary markers on the boundary of the camping area clearly designating such boundaries for the purpose of preventing trespassing on adjacent property by patrons of the camping area.

(Ch. 26, § 7, 12-1-69; Ch. 96, § 1, 4-4-88)

Sec. 9-79. - Existing camping areas.#

Any camping area existing on December 1, 1969 must be licensed in accordance with this article and must comply with all of the provisions of this article except sections 9-74(1) and 9-74(2). For purpose of this section, an existing camping area shall mean any camping area which has been approved by the state department of health under the provisions of applicable state law, of January 1, 1970.

(Ch. 26, § 8, 12-1-69)

Sec. 9-80. - Violations.#

(a)

Each day that any violation of this article shall continue shall be considered as a separate or distinct offense.

(b)

In addition to any penalties otherwise applicable for violations of this article, the town may bring an action against any property owner who fails to comply with the requirements of this article. Such actions shall be brought, at the election of the town, in the superior court having jurisdiction where the violation occurred or is likely to occur or in the Hopkinton Municipal Court. The town may seek restraining orders and injunctive relief to restrain and enjoin violations or threatened violations of this article.

(Ch. 26, § 11, 12-1-69; Ch. 206, § 2, 10-15-07)

Sec. 9-81. - Exception.#

Nothing in this article shall be construed to prevent the storage of a camper or camping trailer by a person on his own property.

(Ch. 26, § 9, 12-1-69)