City Council passes modular home amendment

The O’Fallon City Council on Tuesday passed an amendment to its current zoning ordinance, restricting where future modular homes could be placed within the city limits. The City Council passed the proposed amendment which attempts to clear up a loophole with the current zoning code after a 10-1 vote.

Ward 5 Alderwoman Courtney Marsh opposed the amendment, which will take effect immediately. Ward 1 Alderman Gene McCoskey, along with Ward 2 Alderman Jerry Alderman Jerry Albrecht and Ward 7 Alderman David Cozad did not attend the meeting.

Up until now, modular homes were permitted in Single Residential-3 zoning districts. But Community Development Director Ted Shekell believes modular homes should not have been permitted in the SR-3 district in the first place. According to the amendment, all future modular homeowners who want to place a modular home in a SR-3 zoning district will be required to have a public hearing with the Planning Commission first, before the City Council makes the final decision on whether to approve the project or not. SR-3 lots require residentiaal lots to be a minimum of 6,000 square feet. All existing modular homes will be grandfathered

Andrew Carruthers, an attorney representing the Modular Home Association, asked the City Counci to delay taking any vote on the ordinance for two weeks so other issues can like where a modular door must be placed. “It’s a shame,” he said. “This was an overreaction to problem that will do nothing to solve the problem.”

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This story was originally published July 6, 2016 at 12:09 PM with the headline "City Council passes modular home amendment."