Clearlake City Council passes mobile home urgency ordinance
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – On Thursday night the Clearlake City Council approved an urgency ordinance regarding the standards for manufactured and mobile homes which will place a hold on the placement of such structures that are more than 10 years old.
City Attorney Ryan Jones and Alan Flora, the city’s Community Development director and assistant city manager, took the urgency ordinance amending municipal code regarding residential housing standards for manufactured and mobile homes to the council.
Jones explained that, every so often, staff believes an urgency ordinance is necessary to protect the public safety, health and welfare of the community, and that the matter with mobile and modular homes was one of those instances.
Based on information from the city’s building inspector, the older mobile homes and manufactured homes that come into the city have safety issues. Specifically, Jones said the homes have aluminum electrical wiring which can cause fires, as well as poor insulation.
He said the goal is to be consistent with what the county of Lake is doing, adding the units coming into the city should be 10 years old or newer from the date the owner applies for a building permit.
Currently, someone who wants to place one of the structures only has to prove that the home is certified under the National Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974, Jones said.
The urgency ordinance will place a moratorium on mobile and modular homes older than 10 years while staff researches further possible regulations, measures which Jones said are important for community safety.
Flora noted that staffers are working on updating the city’s zoning ordinance, and that they have received comments from some people in the community about the mobile and modular home issue.
He said that city staff wants to further refine language regarding the structures in the updated zoning ordinance.
Councilmember Joyce Overton said that, when the matter is brought back to the council for further consideration, she wanted more details about the issues with aluminum wiring.
Flora said the city’s building inspector, who also is a member of the Lake County Fire Protection District, told them that the mobile home fires the district deals with in the city are due to aluminum wiring.
There was no public comment on the matter before Overton moved to approve the urgency ordinance, Councilman Dirk Slooten seconded and the council approved it, 4-0. Councilman Phil Harris was absent for the discussion.
The council also adopted an ordinance amending the Clearlake Municipal Code related to the issuance, handling, appeals, and penalties or administrative citations, amending the general penalty for violations, adjusting penalties for cannabis-related violations and providing for the immediate imposition of fines in specific circumstances.
Council members also honored retired District 2 Supervisor Jeff Smith; approved its 12th and final development agreement, this one with Erin McCarrick and Clearlake Ventures LLC for a commercial cannabis operation; approved a resolution authorizing staff to apply to the California Department of Housing and Community Development for the Community Development Block Grant program; and held off on finalizing a contract with Resource Environmental Inc. in the amount of $105,000 for the demolition of eight structures and the abatement of a ninth.
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