March 12, 2008
MOBILE
HOME, MODULAR HOME, AND PERSONAL OPINIONS
Statement
made at a recent P & Z Committee Meeting: “Your personal opinions have nothing to do
with definitions or ordinances. You can’t expect the people of Jasper County
to live according to your personal opinions!”
The last P&Z
Committee Meeting was held Wednesday, March 5 at 6:30PM. After getting a message about what went on at
that meeting, citizens of Jasper County
might be very wise to attend the next meeting—TODAY, Wednesday, March 12 at
6:30 PM.
This is an email that was sent to
TWG by a citizen that attended the 3/5/08 meeting: (TWG
comments in blue italics)
The Committee (appointed by the
Commissioners) continues to go through a long, long list of
definitions. It is amazing how long people can expound on a simple
definition. The first definition of the evening was “mobile
home/modular home”. This “discussion” took one hour – 6:30 to
7:30. Member 1 who lives in Turtle Cove and came to Jasper County
from DeKalb County, took off on a rant that she and
her husband were forced to live in a
mobile home when they were first married and attending college. She
continued and said she swore if she ever got out of that “trailer”, she would
never live in another one. And she hasn’t. Then she defined
‘mobile home’ for everyone.
First, she changed
the term to ‘trailer’ and said it was a thing you live in that comes in on
wheels and then you hide the wheels. Then she said little children burn
up in trailers all the time and no one should live in one. During her
rant, she shared that she drives 67 miles one way to work in Atlanta and that she finds trailers very offensive and it upsets her to have to see
them. Therefore, she proposed that Jasper
County pass an ordinance that no
trailers can be in Jasper
County at all, no matter
how many acres a person owns.
(Obviously, this committee
member, who must not have read the existing Zoning Ordinances, doesn’t know
that “trailers”, that being “Single Wide Trailers” have not been allowed in Jasper County
for at least 10 years and maybe longer.
Any “single wides” still existing in Jasper County
are “grandfathered in.”)
Committee Member 2 had
been closely listening to her rant. When she finally ran out of breath,
he told her that she had introduced another definition that the committee was
not dealing with because it had no connection to planning, zoning, and
ordinances. She didn’t understand so he explained that ‘trailer’ is a thing on wheels pulled
behind another vehicle and commonly used for camping. He then
asked her if she really thought she could pass an ordinance not allowing anyone
to drive through Jasper
County pulling one or
having one on their property.
Interestingly, Don
Broussard—the Urban Planner--agreed with Member 1, except that he pointed out
that Member 2 was correct on the terminology. Broussard read the
definitions of mobile home and modular home from his book, which stated that ‘mobile
home’ is an obsolete term and the correct term to use is ‘modular
home’. He read the definition of ‘modular home’ a couple of
times, but Member 1 just couldn’t accept it. She said it didn’t matter what you call it,
it is still offensive and still a safety issue. (Offensive to her
doesn’t make it legal or illegal.
Offensive, like beauty, is a judgment call and as the saying goes, is in
the eye of the beholder.)
At one point,
Member 1 actually had the nerve to angrily say to Member 2, “And just what is
your point?” Member 2 replied, “My point is that your bad experience in a
mobile home when you were young and your personal opinions have nothing to do with definitions
or ordinances. You can’t expect the people of Jasper County
to live according to your personal opinions!” That didn’t make
any impression on Member 1. She then
went on about how unsafe “trailers” are and that people burn up in them.
Member 1 then
jumped to another subject--the “fact” that Jasper County requires a
house to be 1800 sq. ft. to “insure high quality” homes are built. (as if the size of
the house has anything to do with the quality) Member 2 tried to explain to her that
modular homes go through inspections and are required to be built to standard,
but a stick built house is not, no matter how many sq. ft. is required.
She either couldn’t comprehend that or didn’t want to.
Remember – the purpose of the
meeting is to review definitions and make sure that the definitions are updated
and consistent throughout the ordinance manual. They are not there to
propose ordinances or to propose changes to ordinances. However, no one ever pointed this
out for almost an hour. Finally, Member 2 did think of this and reminded the
first that that was not their purpose and that they did not have that
authority. Broussard seemed to be surprised by that statement, but did
agree and suggested that they move on. (Is Broussard being
paid by the hour to listen and moderate these meetings?)
Member 1 was not
ready to move on and didn’t even seem to hear Broussard, but raised her voice
in a passionate plea, “Yes, we can, and we are! We have the power to say no
more mobile homes in Jasper
County and that is what
we are going to do!” (Appoint someone to a committee and they think they have
powers they don’t have but try to use them anyway.) This led to more
arguments about young people needing affordable housing and older people
needing smaller, affordable housing, and that many people like and favor
mobile/modular homes. Broussard kept trying to move on and finally they
did.
Then the Zoning
Director, Chris Anderson, mentioned Hillsboro
and Member 1 made a comment that Hillsboro
wasn’t a very big town and there was nothing much there. Chris told her
it was once a booming town, bigger than Monticello,
with 2 banks, 2 country grocery stores, and many other businesses. She
was shocked and wanted to know what happened, but then she went on to say that it was her
opinion that Hillsboro
should be told that they will now use a village concept for any new homes –
around the little store area – and certainly, no more trailers!
Eventually, the
committee came to the definition for “land remnant” and Member 1
couldn’t understand that definition either. This led to another prolonged
discussion. She thought the term should be thrown out because, according
to her, it is the same thing as a ‘nonconforming lot’.
These live performances are
more entertaining than anything one can find on TV. Citizens are urged to attend for information
and entertainment!
TWG Note: There are 5 members on
the Committee. According to the citizen that did attend—
One member did not
attend. Another came in around 7:40 (an hour late), sat down, got up and
went to the restroom, and then returned to the table. He did not have his
notebook of definitions with him. He never uttered a word, not even
“hello” or “sorry I’m late.” He appeared to be bored and eager to
leave. A third one didn’t say much; she occasionally asked Broussard to
explain part of a definition or asked him to look up something in his
book. Basically the Committee is Member 1 who wants Jasper County
to have laws that in her opinion are
“how it should be/look/stay/change”, Member 2 who asks questions and
expects honest answers, and the Urban Planner.
TWG has
investigated definitions and learned the following:
What Are Modular Homes?
- Modular homes are built in sections at a
factory.
- Modular homes are built to conform to all
state, local or regional building codes at their destinations.
- Sections
are transported to the building site on truck beds, then joined together
by local contractors.
- Local building inspectors check to make sure a
modular home's structure meets requirements and that all finish work is
done properly.
- Modular homes are sometimes less
expensive per square foot than site built houses.
- A well-bult modular home should have the same longevity as its site
built conterpart, increasing in value over time.
This
is a picture of a Modular Home:
This
is a site built house. As long as a
house is site built and 1800 square feet, Member 1 says it is “high quality.”
