State and Federal Preemption in the Mobile Home Arena: What Can Local Governments Truly Regulate?

Some city and county rules treat mobile homes differently from conventional houses and other types of manufactured buildings. These rules might limit where mobile homes can be placed, have special requirements just for mobile homes, or restrict older mobile homes. It’s important to understand the difference between conventional houses (built on-site) and manufactured housing (built in a factory and transported to the site). Mobile homes and manufactured buildings are two types of manufactured housing. Mobile homes must meet federal regulations, while manufactured buildings must meet state regulations. Local laws regulating mobile homes have been challenged in court, with arguments based on federal preemption, equal protection, due process, and dormant Commerce Clause claims. In one case in Florida, a city ordinance banning mobile homes from certain zoning districts was found to conflict with federal law on safety regulations. The court ruled that the city could use zoning regulations to restrict the location of mobile homes, but not safety regulations that conflicted with federal law. The 11th Circuit court made a decision in the case of Grant v. Seminole County, 817 F.2d 731 in 1987. The county had a zoning ordinance that allowed manufactured homes in all zoning districts, but only allowed mobile homes in some districts. The court ruled in favor of the county, saying that zoning regulations are presumed to be valid and not reviewable unless they are clearly arbitrary and unreasonable.

In a later case, Georgia Manufactured Housing, the court considered zoning regulations in Spaulding County that had requirements for mobile homes, such as the pitch of the roof and the width of the home. The court ruled in favor of the county, saying that the regulations were rationally related to the government’s goal of aesthetic compatibility. The court ruled that a local law requiring mobile homes to have a certain appearance is allowed under federal law, as long as it doesn’t discriminate against mobile homes compared to other types of homes. This means that unless the law is based on safety or construction standards from the federal government, it’s likely to be upheld in court. In Florida, the state law says that local governments can make rules about where mobile homes can be placed, but they have to be fair and apply the rules to all types of housing. A court case showed that a city’s rules for mobile homes didn’t follow the state law because they only applied to mobile homes, and not other types of houses. This means that the city’s rules were not fair and didn’t follow the state law. In Florida, there are different rules for mobile homes and manufactured buildings. The state law gives local authorities the power to enforce building codes and aesthetic standards, as long as they are applied fairly to all types of buildings. In a court case called Campbell v. Monroe County, a family sued the county for not allowing them to build a manufactured home in a certain area. The county said they had the right to make these rules, and the court had to decide if that was true. The court said that a rule in Monroe County about requiring certain materials for factory-built houses was not allowed because it went against state law. Then, in another case in Marion County, the court said that a rule there was also against state law because it discriminated against factory-built houses. So, the Florida Legislature has made it clear that local governments can’t make rules that treat factory-built houses differently from other types of houses. All houses have to follow the same rules. Local governments in Florida have different regulations for where mobile homes can be placed. Some counties have restrictions on the appearance of residential structures, while others restrict mobile homes to specific zoning classifications. These regulations must be uniformly applied to all construction methods and enforced without distinction between mobile homes and conventional stick-built housing. This means that regulations that treat mobile homes differently from regular houses will not be upheld against challenge. These are references to legal cases and Florida state statutes about manufactured housing and mobile homes. They also mention specific counties in Florida that have ordinances related to this type of housing. Sanford A. Minkoff and Melanie N. Marsh are lawyers who work for Lake County. Sanford has been the county attorney since 1995 and Melanie has been an assistant county attorney since 1998. They are members of the Lake County Bar and The Florida Bar. They have degrees in law and are board certified in city, county and local government law. They are part of the Environmental and Land Use Law Section.

Source: https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/state-and-federal-preemption-in-the-mobile-home-arena-what-can-local-governments-truly-regulate/