[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Waterford 6-6-1989 by L.L. No. 1-1989. Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Mobile Home Law of the Town of Waterford."
It is the purpose of this chapter to regulate the maintenance of mobile homes and mobile home parks within the Town of Waterford and to prescribe regulations for said parks, to regulate the parking and location of mobile homes outside of said park within the Town of Waterford and to require that mobile home parks within the Town of Waterford be laid out and constructed in accordance with approved plans.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
ABANDONED MOBILE HOME
Any mobile home which has been continuously unoccupied or uninhabited for a period of 90 consecutive days.
ACCESSORY STRUCTURE
A structure subordinate to the principal structure or mobile home on the same lot and serving a purpose customarily incidental to the principal structure.
INTERNAL STREET
A paved road within the boundaries of the mobile home park.
MOBILE HOME
A transportable, single, detached dwelling for one family suitable for year-round occupancy and containing the same water supply, waste disposal and electrical conveniences as immobile housing. A "mobile home" is designed and built to be towed on its own chassis, comprised of a frame and wheels, and is connected to utilities and designed to be used with or without a permanent foundation for year-round living. A unit may contain parts that may be folded, collapsed or telescoped when being towed and expanded later to provide additional cubic capacity, as well as two or more separately towable components designed to be joined into one integral unit capable of being again separated into the components for repeated towing. A "mobile home" is not to be confused with a travel trailer which is towed by a motor vehicle and can be operated independently of utility connections, is limited in width to eight feet, in length to 35 feet and is designed to be used principally as a temporary vacation dwelling. A "mobile home" is the same as a "manufactured home."
MOBILE HOME LOT
A parcel of land for the placement of a single mobile home and the exclusive use of its occupants.
MOBILE HOME PARK
A parcel of land under single ownership [one deed] which has been planned and improved for the placement of mobile homes for nontransient use.
MOBILE HOME PARK LICENSE
A written license issued by the Town Clerk allowing a person to operate and maintain a mobile home park under the provisions of this chapter and regulations issued hereunder.
MOBILE HOME STAND
That part of a mobile home lot which has been reserved for the placement of the mobile home, accessory structures or additions, including driveway apron and patio.
OPERATOR
The owner, lessee or any other person designated as responsible for the maintenance and operation of the park and such services and facilities as are provided and/or necessary for the use of such property.
PERMIT
A written permit issued by the Building Inspector permitting the construction, alteration and/or extension of a mobile home park under the provisions of this chapter and regulations issued hereunder.
PERSON
Any individual, firm, trust, partnership, public or private association or corporation.
REFUSE
All putrescible and nonputrescible solid waste, including but not limited to garbage, rubbish, ashes, incinerator residue, street cleanup, dead animals, offal and solid commercial wastes.
RIGHT-OF-WAY
That portion of designated land set aside for the installation of utilities and/or sidewalks, curbs, gutters or other unrestricted uses and maintained by the owner.
SEWAGE
Excreta and the waste from a flush toilet, bath, sink, lavatory, dishwashing or laundry machine or the water-carried waste from any other fixture or equipment or machine.
No person, firm or corporation being the owner or occupant of any land or premises within the Town of Waterford shall use or permit the use of said land or premises as a mobile home park without obtaining a permit thereof as hereinafter provided.
A. 
Application for permit. The application for each mobile home park permit shall be in writing and signed by the applicant. It shall state:
(1) 
The name and address of the applicant.
(2) 
The name and address of each partner if the applicant be a partnership.
(3) 
The name and address of each officer and director if the applicant be a corporation.
(4) 
A complete description of the premises upon which the proposed park is to be located.
(5) 
The name and address of the owner or owners of such premises.
(6) 
The number of park units to be provided in the proposed park.
B. 
Each application shall be accompanied by a set of plans and specifications, prepared and drawn to scale by a registered architect or licensed professional engineer showing the layout of the park, the location, the size and arrangement of each park unit, location of streets, location of water service and location of garbage receptacles. Where the applicant is not the owner of the premises, the application shall also be accompanied by an original or photostatic copy of the lease of the premises and a written statement signed by all the owners consenting that the premises be used for the purpose of a mobile home park.
C. 
Filing of application. Such application shall indicate compliance by the applicant with the minimum court requirements as established by rule or regulation of the State Department of Health and of the Sanitary Code of the State of New York, and the rules of the Saratoga County Department of Health.
D. 
Issuance of permit. The Town Clerk of the Town of Waterford, upon the written application and upon the approval of the same by the Town Board of the Town of Waterford after a public hearing thereon and upon receipt of the fee hereinafter provided, shall issue a permit to become effective from the date thereof, and to continue in force for the term specified therein but in no event longer than through the 31st day of December next succeeding for the use of the premises therein specified as a mobile home park, which permit shall specify the number of park units which may be used in said park. Such permit shall not be transferable or assignable.
E. 
Fees. The applicant for a mobile home park shall, at the time of issuance of any such permit, pay to the Town Clerk a fee computed at the rate of $1 per park unit per annum, based upon the maximum fee for an annual permit which shall be $10.
A. 
Drainage and grading. All lands used as a mobile home park shall be well drained, of ample size and free from heavy or dense growth of brush or weeds. The land shall be properly graded to ensure proper drainage and shall at all times be so drained as to be free from stagnant pools of water.
B. 
Park plan. Each mobile home park constructed, altered or expanded shall be subdivided and marked off into lots or park units numbered consecutively, the number being conspicuously posted on each park unit; each of which park units shall contain at least 5,000 square feet and shall be at least 50 feet by 100 feet in dimension. No more than one mobile home shall be permitted to occupy any one park unit. The park units shall be grouped in blocks with streets at least 30 feet wide between each block and be adequately lighted. Each park unit shall have direct access to a street. No park unit shall be located within 50 feet of any public highway or public street line or within 25 feet of any adjacent property line or 50 feet of any adjacent dwelling house. Each mobile home park and all parts thereof shall be kept in a clean and sanitary condition at all times.
C. 
Water connection. Each mobile park shall be provided with the proper water connections. Each lot within the mobile home park shall be provided with the proper water connections.
D. 
Sewage. Each mobile home park shall provide and maintain facilities for the satisfactory treatment and/or disposal of sewage, including but not limited to the following conditions:
(1) 
Each lot shall be provided with a minimum four-inch sewer pipe below the ground surface and a four-inch rise pipe.
(2) 
The connecting pipe (minimum of three-inch diameter) from the mobile home to the riser pipe shall be noncollapsible and semirigid. All connections shall be watertight.
(3) 
The riser pipe shall be provided with a watertight seal when not connected to a mobile home.
(4) 
Inadequately treated sewage on the surface of the ground shall be prohibited.
(5) 
The operator shall be responsible for maintaining the sewage system to include the riser pipe. The connecting pipe shall also be the responsibility of the operator. The operators shall be responsible for providing a water and odor tight connection from the water drainage to the sewer connection. The operator shall be responsible for providing all such connections and maintaining all such connections to the sewer for all occupied mobile homes in the park.
(6) 
Sewer connections in unoccupied park units shall be so closed that they will emit no odors or cause a breeding place for flies.
(7) 
No water or waste shall be allowed to fall on the ground from a mobile home.
E. 
Garbage disposal. Each mobile home park shall make provision for sanitary equipment to prevent littering of the grounds and premises with rubbish, garbage and refuse. Each mobile home shall have containers with tightly fitting covers. Each mobile home park shall provide a flytight storage building or buildings at a convenient location or locations equipped with flytight metal depositories of sufficient size and number to contain all the rubbish, garbage and refuse that may accumulate between removals from the premises. Disposal shall be provided for all rubbish, garbage and refuse at least once weekly by the mobile home park owner or his agent and in conformance with Town requirements.
F. 
Electric service and connections. Each mobile home park shall provide weatherproof electric service connections and outlets. All electric installation shall be approved by the New York State Board of Fire Underwriters and have a certificate issued by the same.
G. 
Utilities. The owner shall be responsible for the installation and maintenance of park utilities, in accordance with applicable state and local regulations or generally accepted standards. The owner shall also be responsible for the proper connection of park utilities to each home.
H. 
Fuel supply. All mobile home parks shall be provided with facilities for the safe storage of necessary fuel. All systems shall be installed and maintained in accordance with applicable codes and regulations governing such system. The park owner shall not prohibit access to the mobile home park to any person employed, retained or requested by a mobile home dweller to supply fuel and/or service or maintain any fuel-related system or equipment.
I. 
Electrical requirements. All mobile home parks shall contain an electrical wiring system consisting of wiring fixtures, equipment and appurtenances which shall be installed and maintained in accordance with the local electric power company's specifications and regulations, and in accordance with all applied laws, rules or regulations of the State of New York.
J. 
Internal streets. Internal streets of the mobile home park shall be provided and maintained by the owner in accordance with all Town, county and state laws governing private roadways. Adequate lighting shall be provided and maintained by the owner at each intersection from dusk till dawn with such lighting meeting the recommendations of the local utility company.
K. 
Unlicensed vehicles. No unlicensed vehicles shall be parked within the mobile home park for a period in excess of 48 hours.
L. 
Abandoned mobile homes. Abandoned or unoccupied mobile homes shall not be allowed on a lot or on any land within the bounds of the mobile home park for a period in excess of 90 days.
The police officers of the Town of Waterford, the Health Officer and any other duly authorized agent or employee of said Town shall have the right at any reasonable time to enter any mobile home park or other premises used for the parking or location of a mobile home, and shall have the right at all times to inspect all parts of said premises and to inspect the records required to be kept in any mobile home park.
If a police officer, health officer or any authorized representative of the Town of Waterford finds that any mobile home park is not being maintained in a clean and sanitary condition or is not being conducted in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, such facts shall thereupon be reported to the Town Board and said Town Board may direct the Town Clerk to serve an order in writing upon the holder of the permit or the person in charge of said park, directing that the conditions therein specified be remedied within 10 days after date of service of such order. If such conditions are not corrected after the expiration of said ten-day period, the Town Board may cause a notice in writing to be served upon the holder of said permit or the person in charge of such mobile home park, requiring the holder of the permit to appear before the Town Board of the Town of Waterford at a time to be specified in such notice and to show cause why such mobile home park permit should not be revoked. The Town Board may, after a hearing to which testimony of witnesses may be taken, and the holder of the permit shall be heard, revoke such permit if said Town Board shall find that said park is not being maintained in a clean and sanitary condition, or if it finds that any provisions of this chapter have been violated or for other sufficient cause. Upon the revocation of such permit, the premises shall forthwith cease to be used for the purpose of a mobile home park, and all mobile homes shall forthwith be removed therefrom.
Application for the renewal of any mobile home permit issued pursuant to this chapter must be filed with the Town Clerk on or before the first day of December next preceding the expiration of said permit. The application for renewal shall be in writing and signed by the applicant and shall contain the same information as required by § 104-5A of this chapter in the case of original application for permits, except that such renewal application need not be accompanied by a plan of the mobile home park unless some change in the plan or layout of the park is contemplated by the applicant, nor is it necessary that said renewal application be accompanied by the lease of the premises unless a new lease of the premises has been entered into subsequent to the time of filing the previous application, in which event the original or photostatic copy of the new lease shall be attached to the application for a renewal, nor shall it be necessary to attach to such application for a renewal the written consent of the owners of the premises that the same may be used for the purpose of a mobile home park unless there shall have been a change in the ownership since the filing of the previous application, in which event such written statement signed by all of the new owners of the premises must accompany the application for a renewal of the permit. Upon the approval of said application for a renewal of the permit by the Town Board, the Town Clerk shall issue a renewal permit which shall become effective upon the expiration of the prior permit and continue in force for the term specified therein but in no event longer than for a period of one year. Such renewal permit shall not be transferred or assigned. The applicant shall, at the time of issuance of such renewal permit, pay to the Town Clerk the same fee provided in § 104-5D of this chapter covering the original issuance of mobile home park permits.
This chapter shall apply to all existing mobile home parks located in the Town of Waterford on the effective date of said chapter, and such existing mobile home parks shall henceforth be maintained and operated in compliance with all of the provisions of this chapter. Any additions, extensions or enlargements of existing parks shall be made in compliance with all provisions of this chapter. The owner or operator of any existing park shall have 90 days after this chapter becomes effective to make an application pursuant to § 104-5 for a permit to operate such park.
A. 
Highway parking prohibited. No mobile home shall be parked or allowed to remain upon any public highway or private way in the Town of Waterford for over eight hours.
B. 
No mobile home shall be parked outside of a duly licensed mobile home park in the Town of Waterford, except as follows:
(1) 
Any owner of land who intends to build a dwelling house upon a parcel of land located in the Town of Waterford may apply to the Town Clerk and, after compliance with the provisions of this chapter and payment of the fee set forth hereinafter, be granted a permit to park a mobile home upon said parcel of land during the erection of said dwelling. The aforesaid permit shall be issued by the Town Clerk for a period not in excess of six months from the date of issuance thereof, or until the dwelling being constructed is occupied, whichever is the shorter period. Said permit may be extended by letter by the Town Clerk for a period not to exceed three months from the date of expiration. In the event that said owner desires an additional extension of said permit, a written application shall be submitted to the Town Board of the Town of Waterford, which extension may be granted or denied by said Town Board after an examination of the facts and circumstances concerning the same and after the applicant has been given an opportunity to speak on behalf of such application. Upon the expiration of the aforesaid permit and/or any extension thereof, said mobile home shall be vacated as living quarters and disconnected from its water supply and sewage disposal systems.
(2) 
None of the provisions of this chapter shall be applicable to a mobile home located on the site of a commercial or public construction project, survey project or other similar work project and used solely as a field office or work or tool house used in connection with such project, provided that such mobile home is removed from the site within a reasonable time after the completion of such project.
C. 
Any owner or occupant of a mobile home desiring to place or park the same in the Town of Waterford outside a licensed mobile home park for human habitation, other than an owner or occupant set forth in Subsection B(1) and (2) hereof, shall make written application to the Town Clerk of the Town of Waterford, and after compliance with the provisions of this chapter and payment of the fee set forth hereinafter, be granted a permit to so park or place a mobile home. Said permit shall be valid for a term of four weeks and no additional permit shall be issued to said owner or occupant and/or the owner of the land upon which said mobile home is parked or placed for any period of time during the next succeeding 11 months; provided, however, that the owner or occupant of said mobile home and/or the owner of the land upon which said mobile home was located may apply in writing to the Town Board of the Town of Waterford for an extension of the aforesaid permit for a period not to exceed 11 months, which extension shall be granted or denied by the Town Board after an examination of the facts and circumstances concerning the same and after the applicant has been accorded an opportunity to speak on behalf of such application.
D. 
Application for permit to the Town Clerk of the Town of Waterford. The owner or occupant of a mobile home seeking to park or place the same pursuant to the provisions of Subsections B(1) and C hereof shall make written application to the Town Clerk. The application shall set forth:
(1) 
The name and address of the applicant.
(2) 
The name and address of each partner, if the applicant be a partnership.
(3) 
The name and address of each officer and director, if the applicant be a corporation.
(4) 
The description of the premises upon which the mobile home is to be located.
(5) 
The name and address of the owner or owners of such premises and if the applicant is not the owner of the premises where said mobile home is to be located, the applicant shall file with the issuing officer the acknowledged consent of said owner that the premises may be used for such purposes and subject to the provisions of this chapter.
E. 
Each application shall be accompanied by a plot plan drawn to scale and prepared by a licensed professional engineer or surveyor and showing:
(1) 
The boundaries of the premises upon which said mobile home is to be located.
(2) 
The location of said mobile home upon said premises.
(3) 
The location of the water supply and sewage disposal systems to be used by said mobile home.
F. 
Any inhabited mobile home parked and maintained pursuant to the provisions of this section shall have an approved water supply and shall install and use a sewage disposal system at least equal to that required by a two-bedroom dwelling.
G. 
The written approval of the Water Supply and Sewage Disposal Systems by the Saratoga County Department of Health must be presented to the Town Clerk with the application for a permit under Subsection D above.
H. 
Any uninhabited mobile home may be parked or stored outside of a licensed mobile home park; provided, however, that it shall not be parked between the street line and the front building line of the premises upon which it shall be stored nor in the side yards of said premises.
I. 
A mobile home or mobile homes exhibited for sale and uninhabited as living quarters may be maintained outside of a licensed mobile home park. One such mobile home in a sale lot may be used as a sales office.
J. 
Fees. The applicant for a mobile home permit pursuant to the provisions of this section shall, at the time of issuance of any such permit or renewal thereof, pay to the Town Clerk a fee of $1.
K. 
If a police officer, health officer, member of the Town Board or any authorized representative of the Town of Waterford finds any house trailer outside a mobile home park is not being maintained in a clean and sanitary condition or is not being maintained in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, such facts shall thereupon be reported to the Town Board and said Town Board may direct the Town Clerk to serve an order in writing upon the holder of the permit and/or the owner of the mobile home and/or the owner of the premises, directing that the condition therein specified be remedied within five days after the date of service of such order. If such conditions are not corrected, after the expiration of said five-day period, the Town Board may cause a notice in writing to be served upon the holder of such permit and/or the owner of said mobile home and/or the owner of the premises upon which it is located requiring the appearance of the person so served before the Town Board of the Town of Waterford at a time to be specified in such notice and show cause why such mobile home permit should not be revoked. The Town Board may, after a hearing at which testimony of witnesses may be taken and the person so served shall be heard, revoke such permit if the Town Board shall find that said mobile home is not being maintained in a clean and sanitary condition or if it finds that any provision of this chapter has been violated or for any other sufficient cause. Upon the revocation of such permit, said mobile home shall be removed forthwith from the premises and disconnected from its water supply and sewage disposal system.
L. 
The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to mobile homes parked outside of a duly licensed mobile home park prior to the effective date of this chapter and occupied as a dwelling. Such mobile homes may remain in the position or place in which they are then parked; provided, however, that no such mobile homes shall be moved to a new location in the Town of Waterford except in compliance with the provisions of this chapter, and provided also that any owner or lessee of a mobile home presently parked outside a licensed mobile home park may replace the same with a new mobile home located upon the same plot of ground and in the same general location. The owner of an existing mobile home replacing the same with a new mobile home shall file a plot plan with the Town Clerk showing the dimensions of the new mobile home and its location upon the building lot.
Any person who violates any provision of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than $100 and not more than 30 days' imprisonment. In addition, the violation of the chapter or any of the provisions thereof shall subject the person, firm or corporation violating the same to a civil penalty in the sum of $50; said penalty may be recovered by the Town of Waterford in a civil action.
The issuance of a permit pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall not be deemed to waive compliance by the holder thereof, by the property owner or by any occupant of said court with any statute, rule or regulation of the State of New York or law or health regulation of the Town of Waterford or of the Saratoga County Department of Health.
This chapter shall not apply within the corporate limits of the Incorporated Village of Waterford.