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CASE #79-20 .- ( ~ I "- July 23, 1979 Case No: 79-20 Appll.cetnL: R1.chard Hrll:hews r~cntion. P1nes Trailer Court Request: npproval of variance to lcoated a 24' x 2G' mob11e home S'I'l\fT l'rNDJI\CS l\ND CO:!r1ENTS: J. \;1. Ha.....J...s 1. 'j')ns r<.que~t \-.1.S d1scIIssed wlth the C'lty l\ttorncy and 1.t \Jas d('termlned that the presC'llt physJ cetl des1qn d.nd USE' (If the. Idncl 15 a lion confo.cm1ng use. The cOllrt can contllhlC to operato:> as 1t c;.:]~.ted at the tllTIC ot 1ts anJlcxatl.on to Hoplans S\A!:Jcct to t.e.:!lth aJ..1 [lrc : ,-S,11at1.01.:;. 2. Should t..!lC' o\o:'ler dccid{' to mak<." cl1an(Je~ such as the rC'lronv.:11 of two t.rallers from lots 3] 2 and 3]4 l.:1 the C()l)~t. ] crISe> plan, thp mm con[orml.ng rlqhts are re.-noved dJ'd the new oce upants of the 101..<:; Ir.t,st conf.orm to the ordinance. 3. From a plc:nnlng prO(Tram it.. would a}Jpc'c.r m(lre beneflcl'll to the OWI-.er, the occ'Jpants and the Ol. ty to consl.Qor an ut-.ciatlJ1g und converSlon plan to accomo- date mobl.l homes of todays standards. As an exc:mple - the oWn~r could pr<."parc a p]an to b'2 completed over d five year tle1:l.Od \,'h"!.ch \o:ould provl.:ic [or 14 I x 60' mobIle holr.cs plus some double \Hdes \Hth ]ot~ of suffl.cleat Sloze \..0 dccomodate pcuJa.lg and yards. The plan \'lot.ld requlre a Con,iitl.onal Use Permit for a Planned Unit Development. .... -q:, "- . . ( CITY OF HOPKINS ~... ... 1010 FIRST STREET SOUTH · HOPKINS, MINNESOTA 55343 . 612/935-8474 March 9. 1983 Mr. Richard Mathews Pines Trailer Court 2012 Excelsior Avenue West Hopkins. Minnesota 55343 Dear Mr. Mathews: I have been informed by the City Inspection Department recently that there are a' numb e r of- tnitfs'located in the Pines Trailer Court which exceed the width requirements of the Hopkins Zoning Ordinance. These units were located in the park without soliciting a permit from the city. 427.33 (1) of the Hopkins Zoning Ordinance states that the maximum width of a home allowed in a mobile home court shall be 12 feet. Any home located within the Pines exceeding this width limit is in violation of the ordinance. ( To further complicate this issue. the City has received a request for a variance to allow the placement of a 14 foot wide unit in the park. In June 1979. as you will recall. you presented a similar request to the city for the location of a 24' double wide unit. This item was discussed by the Zoning and Planning Commission at some length. Basically. the conclusion of this Commission was that prior to considering any change in the width requirements, they wanted you to present an improvement plan to the park. This plan would present steps to be completed over a period (possibly 1 - 5 years) to update the park and convert it to accommodate mobil homes of today's standards. ~ , The plan as developed would detail the lots of sufficient size to accommodate parking and yards, an internal roadway system meeting ordinance requirements. and necessary health and safety improvements. This entire issue of an improv- ment plan for the Pines will probably be resurrected at the March 29 Planning and Zoning meeting as a result of the variance request detailed above. . It is probably most beneficial if we get together and discuss this whole issue prior to the meeting. Please call me at 935-8474 to set a date and time when it is most convenient for you. ~O /{~~ lames D. Kerrig~ Community Development Director ( ................ ........55 ................ ......... ................ ......... ................. ......... ................. ................ ................. ................ .................. ................. :::::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::: :-:::::t:::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::: .fll................ .................. . ................. ................... t .:::::::::.:::::::: :::::::-::::::::::: ( .......... .......... ........ ........... ......... .......... ........ ........... ......... ......... ....... ........... ,......... ................. ........... .~.......... ................. ........... ........... ............... ........... ~ ::::::::::: ::::::::::::::: ::::::::::: ........... ............. ........... ............ ............. ..~........ ............ ............. ........... ............ ........... ........... ............ ........... ........... ............ ........... ........... ............ ......... ........... ............ ......... ........... ............ ......... ........... ............ ....... ........... ............ ....... ........... ...:ug;:;:............... .... ............... ::::z: :s::::::::::::::::: ::::~::::z::::::::::::::: ........................... ........................... ........... ........... ........... ........... ........................... ::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ........................... ........................... ........................... ........................... ........................... ........... ........... ::::::::::: ........... ........... ........................... .........................-. ........................... ........................... ........................... ........................... ........................... ........................... ................ ............... ................ ............... ................ ............... ................. ............... ................. ................ ................. ................ .................. ................ .................. ................. .................. ................. ................... ................. ................... .................. ................... .................. .................... .................. .................... ..~................. ............ ........ ........ ........... ............ ........ ........ ........... ............ ......... ......... ........... ............ ........ ........ ........... ............ ................. ........... ............ ................. ........... ............ ............... ........... ............ ............... ........... ............ ............... ........... ............ ............. ........... ............ ............. ........... ............ ............. ........... ............ ........... ........... ............ ........... ........... ............ ........... ........... ............ ......... ........... ............ ......... ........... ............ ......... ........... ............ ....... ........... ............ ....... ........... .t::::;U:t::::z::=:. .::::::::::::::::::::::-.::: .:::::::::................... ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ::::::::::: :::::::: ::::::::::: :::::::: ::::::::::: :::::::: ::::::::::: :::::::: ........... ........ ........... ........ ........... ........ ........... ........ ........... ........ ........... ........ ........... ........ ........... ........ ........... ........ ........... ........ ........... ........ ............................. ............................. ............................ ........................... .......................... ........................ ...................... DATE: March 11, 1983 TO: JJ.m KerrJ.gan, ZonJ.ng & PlannJ.ng FROM: FJ.rmus J. OpJ.tz, InspectJ.on Department Per your request I d1d check 2012 West Excelsior Avenue (PJ.nes Mobl.le Home CommunJ.ty) for other 14' wJ.de manufactured homes. I dJ.d fJ.nd others, nJ.ne to be exact. Lots #116, 120, 206, 217, 307, 333, 538, 540 & 550. ~ I might pOl.nt out that we have no idea when these were moved J.n as no move J.n permJ.ts were ever 1ssued for above mentioned unJ.ts. ( Accord1ng to 1982 HennepJ.n County tax prJ.ntouts: Un1t #116 J.S 11s ted to a Edna M. Dye and 1S a 1975 DetroJ.ter; Un1t #120 J.S 11S ted to a Esther M. Young and J.S a 1974 DetroJ.ter, Unit #206 1S ll.sted to a Marlys M. Hyllested and J.S a 1972 Buddy SpecJ.al; UnJ.t #217 1S IJ.sted to a Laurl R. LeJ.v1ska and J.S a 1971 Peerless; Unit #307 lS 11sted to a Hang Nguyen and lS a 1972 Rollo Home; Un1t #333 J.S 11sted to a Clark W. Webb and J.S a 1974 Rosewood; Un1t #538 is 11sted to a DaV1d W. Court and J.S a 1978 Rollo Home; Unit #540 lS IJ.sted to a Janice A. Gross and J.S a 1972 LJ.berty; and Un1t #550 is 11sted to a VJ.ola W. Mortenson and J.S a 1977 Rollo Home. . ( .......... . ..............- .... .......... ............... ... ........... ............... .. ............. ................ . .............. ................ . .............. ................ .................. ................. .................. ................. .................. ................. .................... .................. .................... .................. :I:E::::::::::::::::. .:::::::::::::::::: (................... ................... ~~........ ........ ....... ........... ........ .......... ........ ........... ....... .......... ........ ........... ....... ......... ..~.... ........... ,....... ................. ........... ~........ ................. ........... -.......... ............... ........... .......... ............... ........... .......... ............... ........... .......... ............. ........... ........... ............. ........... ~........... ............. ........... ............ ........... ........... ............ ........... ........... ............ ........... ........... ............ ......... ........... ............ ......... ........... ............ ......... ........... ............ ....... ........... ............ ....... ........... 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March 18, 1983 Zon~ng & PlannJ.ng The follow~ng three J.terns (A-B-C) were brouqht up at a meetl.ng wJ.th R1chard Mathews and Ivan Shish on March 16, 1983. A. MovJ.ng un~ts w1thJ.n park J.tself - ~t seems reasonable that the C~ty would J.nspect gas, electr~c~ty, plumb~ng hookups plus s1de,front and rear clearances. I belJ.eve the CJ.ty could not requ1re relocated un~ts to comply with any codes. It does pose an ~nterestJ.ng quest~on tho - what about 11fe-safety 1tems? B. Most commonly manufactored unJ.ts are 14' x 16' wJ.de un~ts - 12 footers can be ordered from factory. ( C. Open space ~s not requJ.red by State law. Th1s 1S apparently set by local offJ.cJ.als. I don't know where I saw the 100 ft per unJ.t requJ.rement - at any rate J.t does not apply here * * * " " * * " * " " * D. Perhaps another solut~on to reduce the densJ.ty would be to remove two un~ts and put a double wJ.de on the two sJ.ngle lots. Parks cannot (by State law) charge more for lot rent then was charged for the s1ngles - at any rate, J.f the rent was say $120.00 per lot 1t seems reasonable that they could charge $240.00 for a double wJ.de setting on 2 s1ngle lots. E. The 15 year old un1t rule per State to move out unless owner sells un~t law can stay J.n a park and cannot be forced park owner may then force unJ.t to move out. F. Correctlons as we see as be1ng needed to update park: l. 2. . 3. 4. 5. 6. \ 7. W~den streets to permlt better movement of emergency un1ts. Provide on s1te storm shelter. Cause units to meet 10' clearances on all s~des. Raise all low overhead service conductors. Update power-supply cords on unlts not havJ.ng proper cords - all cords shall be marked "40 or 50 AMP for use wJ.th mobl1e homes". We need op~n10n on MSS 327.14 Subd 7. (deal~ng with recreat~onal campJ.ng veh~cles) are they allowed to become as permanent as regular mobl1e homes? If they are allowed to become permanent (whatever permanent is) can they be ~nspected per MSS 16.861 Subd 4 as amended 1n 1977? More park1ng space ~s proposed by Dark owner located ~n southwest park and directly west of play area - measures approximately 108' (11664 41) , corner of x 108' ( e Zon~ng & Plann1ng March 18, 1983 Items B, C, D and E were obtaJ.ned from DebbJ.e from M1nnesota Manufactured Home Assoc~at~on 482-8875. ( ~10d . \ - 2 - ~~ CITY OF HOPKINS _.,::..tli ._ 1010 FIRST STREET SOUTH · HOPKINS. MINNESOTA 55345 · 612/935-8474 March 21, 1983 ( Mr. Richard Mathews Pines Trailer Court 2012 West Excelsior Avenue Hopkins. MN 55343 Attention: Ivan Shish Dear Mr. Mathews. As a result of our meeting on March 16, 1983. I wish to recap our discussion and em- phasize some of the concerns that were detailed concerning existing conditions at the Pines Trailer Court. Basically. I think the City's concerns are related to health and safety issues and most specifically fire protection. I think these concerns result from a site WhlCh is too small to adequately deal with the existing density of the park. This situation has resulted in housing units which do not have adequate spacing. inadequate off-street pc.rking and street widths which do not meet Hopkins Zoning Ordinance requirements or the Fire Department requirements. Units inadequately spaced intensify the possible seriousness of any fire and the exist- ing parking and street design create a situation which makes it very difficult if not impossible for the Fire Department to access any fires that might break out within the court. e Hopefully after our recent meeting a plan will be able to be developed by you which adequately addresses some of these above concerns. I think your idea of providing additional parking in the southwest corner of the site is possibly immediate short term solution to the parking problem. I think. however. that as the Planning Commission stated in an earlier review of the court. a Five Year Plan needs to be developed which details long range improvement to the Park. As I told you. I believe this means lower- ing the density of the park and providing internal parking areas and larger lot sizes. Firmus Opitz is contacting State officials to try to determine exactly what you are able to do within the park in order to reorient it to meet safety issues. I suggest that you also contact individuals you know within this field concerning this matter. I think it is imperative that you make every attempt to develop an adequate improvement plan to the park as soon as possible as it seems any action by the Commission or Council as relates to the consideration of allowing wider units within the park than is prese~t1y penmitted will be contingent upon fonmu1ation of this plan. The Fire Marshal, City Inspection Department. as well as my office will make every ef- fort to assist you in developing this plan. Please keep me up to date as to your pro- gress on this matter. If you have any questions please contact me at 935-8474. Sincerely. I " V James Kerri gan Community Development Director cc: Mr. Craig, City Manager Mr. George Magdahl. Fire Marshal Mr. Firmus Opitz. Housing Inspector CITY OF HOPKINS 1010 FIRST STREET SOUTH · HOPKINS. MINNESOTA 55343 . 612/935-8474 March 23, 1983 MEM) TO: Jim Kerrigan, City of Hopkins, Zomng and Planning FR:N: George Magda1 SUBJECl' : pines Trailer Court On the norning of M:rrch 16, 1983 a meeting with Richard Matthews, General Manager of the Pines Trailer Court brought out sane interesting concepts in improving life safety of the residents in the Pines Trailer Court. I have attached a copy of the 1982 Fire Prevention Bureau statistics and review with starting on page (7) lists sate inherent hazards to the residents of the Pines Trailer Court that was realized during a fire investigation in that park. The Federal Emergency Mana.geroent Agency published sane general facts on March of 1982 that calls out the major problans of nobile hone residents. They are: 1. I t is estimated that 25,000 nobile heme fires occur each year. They cause 500 deaths, 1,000 injuries, ard 100 million dollars in direct property loss. 2. Fire deaths in nobile hc:mes occur at twice the rate of fire deaths in houses. 3. victims in nobile hane fires are nore likely to be trapped by the fire than victims in hooses. 4. The very yoong (1-4 years old) acrount for nore than one-fourth of all nobile hare deaths. The fact that when a fire occurs the nobile hane dwellers chances of survival are one- half that of the residents in a house E!lPhasizes the need to limit the hazards urrler our controL (, On July 24, 1981 orders were issued to Mr. Richard Matthews at the Pines M:i>ile Hone camunity to cause all nobile heme units locata:l at 2012 EKcelsior Avenue West to convert all existing fuel oil am propane l:llrning awliances to natural gas. These orders also stata:l that all fuel oil am propane tanks were to be rE!llJVed. Although nost of the residents of the Pines have canplied with the above orders their are still a few that have n:>t ard have n:> intention of doing so. The above groorrl storage of fuels subject the residents to a hazard during a fire that could CXIDSUm::! numerous trailers in a soort period of time. Fire Depart:nent access is a major problem in the Pines. Although the 10 foot mi..ni.mJm clearance was canplied with aver the 1982-83 Sl1CM season their were orders issued on two previous occassions to plCM the drive-ways am maintain the min.inun width. The ten foot mininun width when strictly crljered to does allCM a fire truck to maneuver through the pine roads. One car parked slightly crooked can deny access to a full row of trailers. A less ~ienoed fire awaratus operator or a car parkEd a little close to the ex>rrer can greatly impair fire department access. 'lhe Hopkins Fire Department realizes this pJ:Oblan am will be increasing the miniIroJrn width requirements of the park ... , .. Page 2 ~n the future. The rew fHe department access ra:;{lli.rarents will elminate sane of the parking spaces rt::M available in the park. Even without widening the fire departlrent access lanes the park is short on parkin:J space. ( . There are a nurrber of trailers in the Pines park that do not meet the mininu.nn requirenents for clearances between trailers. Although fire experience has s.tom us that the mininu.mt clearances are n::>t cdequate we should not aHew non-canplyin:J trailers to exist when there is an alternative site for them to be plaCErl on. In fact rental trailers arrl trailers changing CMIlers slnuld be requirerl to canply. Residents of the Pires, llUlch like site built heme CMIlers, have a terrlency to harrlle numerous projects without the help of a professional or a penni t fran the city. 'lliin:Js such as outside storage sheds, natural gas hookups, electrical service hookups, and wocx:l burning stoves have been in- stalled in recent years without consultation. It sIDuld be the Park Managers responsibihty to other residents to control such projects so that they do not be<::x:rre a hazard. The Park manager has had knc:Mlerlge of nost of these projects. These projects smuld be reported to the city am inspected to insure sane measure of life safety. A great concern of Mr. Matthews arrl myself is that the nurrber of the residents in Pine Trailer Court are on fixerl incx:mes arrl or lew incanes. No one wants to see any of these people subjected to financial hardships. Therefore it is my recx::rmerrlation that these people receive new heme sites, canplying with current clearance requirements, as they becxxne available. I further reo.::.mrerrl that all rental trailers arrl any trailer that change cwners not be grarrlfathererl into their non-canplyin:J hare sites but weet the requirements or be ItOVerl to a different park. The above recx::rmerrlations wi thin a few years would: 1. Eliminate the need for sane parking. ( 2. Make avculable additional space for parking. 3. Would not put arr:I financial hardship on low incane people. 4. Every unit ~n the park would meet the mininuJrn distance requirarents. Altb:>ugh the newer trailers are safer than the older ones our cx:mni.ttment should be to our current residents. Qx)d Access arrl above average clearance between trailers was a major factor at our nost recent fire in the Pines Trailer COUrt. lets hope we will be as lucky next time.