Mobile-home parks, small and large, are the targets of a new ordinance regulating appearance and design.

The proposed regulations will get their first public airing Monday night with a hearing before the Rowan County Planning Board. Board members and planners are expecting a large and possibly contentious crowd of park owners and neighbors.

Over the past few years, planners have been swamped with complaints from park neighbors. Planners say that most parks are well kept, with just a few generating the bulk of the complaints.

“Our goal is to make the parks better, not shut them down,” said County Planner Marion Lytle.

Almost a year ago, the Rowan County Board of Commissioners instructed the Planning Department to come up with regulations.

The issue of appearance standards for parks has surfaced several times over the past few years. The proposed standards deal with basic elements such as roads, drainage, parking, trash pickup and clearly marked street addresses.

At previous hearings and meetings, park owners and mobile-home dealers have said that any standard applied to mobile-home parks should also apply to stick-built subdivisions.

Parks would have varying amounts of time to comply with the regulations. For example, they would have six months from the time of adoption to comply with trash requirements. Park owners would have two years to comply with road requirements.

Essentially, owners would have to meet all state standards except for paving. Any park owner who failed to comply with the new regulations would be unable to replace old homes or put in new homes.

Around 150 park owners have been notified of the hearing. That list includes many “mom-and-pop” parks that have only three, four or five homes.

The ordinance, when and if adopted, will deal with all mobile-home parks, despite the size. Lytle is recommending some flexibility, however, for parks with less than either seven or five units.

Lytle also points to the need for flexibility in dealing with parks that were created in conformance with earlier mobile-home park standards. He cited some well-kept parks which have paved driveways but would not meet the new requirement for an 18-foot driveway.

Lytle said the ordinance takes a bare-bones approach to the standards issue. It doesn’t deal with landscaping and aesthetic issues, for instance, and it doesn’t mention livestock or fowl.

The Planning Board meets at 7:30 p.m. in the J. Newton Cohen Sr. Meeting Room of the County Administrative Offices at 130 W. Innes St.

The Planning Board will send a recommendation to the county commissioners, who will also conduct a public hearing. Commissioners will have the final say on any new regulations.

Copies of the proposed standards are available at the Planning Department at 402 N. Main St.

In other business, the board will conduct a public hearing on a request by Earl Bridges to rezone a 1.2-acre tract on Roseman Road from commercial business to mobile-home park. The property is adjacent to a a mobile-home park owned by Bridges.

The board will also look at the proposed new ordinance dealing with signs and billboards. No hearing is planned.

Contact Jessie Burchette at 704-797-4254 or jburchette@salisburypost.com .