Sylva enacts moratorium on modular homes in R-1 zones

By Lynn Hotaling

Members of Sylva's town board voted unanimously Thursday (Oct. 31) to enact a 120-day moratorium on modular homes in residential areas zoned R-1, R-1A and R-1B.

A petition opposing the erection of modular homes on an almost 8-acre site between King and Morris streets triggered last week's board action.

Joe Thompson, a King Street resident and brother of Sylva clerk Tommy Thompson, has requested an amendment to Sylva's zoning ordinance that would clarify the type of modular home allowed in R-1 districts. More than 25 neighborhood residents and property owners signed the petition that accompanied Joe Thompson's request.

The proposed modular development is owned by Jack Garrett, who has already erected one modular home in the neighborhood like those he plans for the development. Garrett currently holds a zoning permit to build an identical home to the one he erected six months ago, said Jim Aust, Sylva's zoning administrator.

Garrett can erect one additional modular home in the neighborhood, Aust said, provided he can work out necessary easements. Garrett is seeking access to the new home via Davis Street, which was platted but never built, and which town officials believe was abandoned in 1986, Aust said.

Garrett said Tuesday that he has consulted an attorney who said he has the right to use the Davis Street right of way.

Neighbors indicated to Aust that Garrett's existing modular home's appearance, which is similar to that of a double-wide trailer, does not fit in with their idea of the types of homes that should be allowed in R-1 districts, Aust said. Sylva's zoning law does not allow trailers, or manufactured homes, in areas zoned R-1, R-1A and R-1B.

Despite the neighbors' concerns, Aust said Garrett's existing house qualifies as a modular home according to the N.C. Department of Insurance. Sylva's zoning ordinance currently defines modular homes according to standards issued by the DOI, Aust said.

"When the planning board permitted modular homes in R-1 districts, the double-wide look was not their vision of a modular home," Aust said. "They envisioned more the appearance of on-site construction."

Joe Thompson's request to amend the ordinance asks town board members to permit only "standard, on-site, frame-constructed houses and off-frame modular homes (but expressly excluding manufactured homes)" in R-1 districts.

The ordinance's current wording does not include the qualifying "off-frame" before modular homes but is otherwise identical to the recommended change.

The consensus during an Oct. 29 meeting of the town's appointed planning board was to ask town board members to enact a moratorium on modular homes in areas zoned R-1, Aust said. With a freeze on modular housing in the most restricted zoning districts, town planners would have time to redefine the types of modular housing that will be acceptable in R-1 districts, Aust said.

Garrett, a longtime resident of Morris Street, said he was not notified of last week's meeting.

"I find it very interesting that I wasn't informed," Garrett said. "No one even asked me about it. If they had asked me in the beginning, I would probably have changed the style of the houses."

Garrett says his existing modular home is an asset to the neighborhood, and his planned houses will also improve the area. He is still willing to change the style of subsequent homes now that he knows of the neighbors' objections, he said.

"All I want to do is put a few homes on the outskirts of the property and rent them to the elderly," Garrett said. "In my opinion, I'm improving the neighborhood and providing homes to the elderly.

"I've done nothing but raise the value of the homes," he said. "It's my neighborhood, too. I live right across the street and have for 13 years."

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