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Local officials are displeased that Marion County is being sued over restrictions on modular housing.
By BRIDGET HALL
© St. Petersburg Times, published April 1, 2000
INVERNESS -- A lawsuit filed this week against Marion County has halted negotiations over modular housing, leaving officials from Citrus and Hernando counties saying they doubt a compromise can be reached.
The Florida Manufactured Housing Association sued Marion County, which banned modular houses in 1998 from neighborhoods of site-built homes, after feeling frustrated that talks seemed to be at an impasse, FMHA executive director Frank Williams said this week.
"They said they were in negotiations, but their position was to ban modular homes," Williams said. "That's not negotiable."
"It kind of makes (the county commissioners) mad," Marion County Attorney Gordon B. Johnston answered. "We were trying to cooperate and look at the things they were proposing, and then they come out with this."
Although Williams said he hopes negotiations will continue with Citrus and Hernando counties, officials of the two counties said the lawsuit puts a damper on talks.
"We've decided to pull out of negotiations," Citrus County Commissioner Gary Bartell said. "We can't see any reason to go forward with (negotiations), but we will continue to pursue our home rule rights through the Legislature."
"I think this is very unfortunate," Hernando County Commissioner Paul Sullivan added. "It does not suggest to any of us involved in the situation that the Manufactured Housing Association is looking to come up with a resolution to the problem."
At issue is the placement of the factory-built units.
Modular homes meet the same building standards as site-built homes, so Florida law allows them to go anywhere that site-built homes go. But some residents complain that the units, delivered to the site in large pieces, look like mobile homes and decrease the value of neighboring properties.
Last month the FMHA and Marion County sat at the negotiating table in Tallahassee with representatives from Citrus and Hernando counties, the Department of Community Affairs, the Florida Association of Counties and the League of Cities to try to resolve their differences.
County representatives feel they should have the right to decide locally where various types of housing go.
A model ordinance drafted by Citrus County provides such a solution, allowing counties to spell out in their land use plans which areas are for site-built homes, modular homes or a mix of the two.
But Williams said such a law would allow counties to ban modular homes altogether. A better solution, he said, is locally enforced aesthetic standards to ensure that modular homes fit in with the neighboring site-built homes.
The manufactured housing lawsuit comes on the heels of a similar suit filed against Marion County last year by the DCA, which enforces the state law requiring modular units to be treated the same as site-built homes.
DCA officials are holding off on aggressively pursuing the suit until the end of this legislative session so lawmakers can address the problem, DCA spokesman James Loftus said.
But manufactured housing builders grew anxious over the DCA's inaction and pressed the FMHA to file its own suit, Williams said.
The FMHA sued Hernando County last year over its moratorium on allowing modular homes in site-built neighborhoods. Attorneys are awaiting a judge's ruling on whether the moratorium can stand until the case goes to trial.
Citrus County has no pending litigation, but a growing number of residents are asking local officials to do something about the modular homes that have recently been moved into site-built neighborhoods such as Citrus Park and Kenwood Oaks.
Saying it has become a statewide problem, Bartell said he would continue to lobby lawmakers to address the issue this session.