By JEFFERSON WEAVER
Staff Writer

Whiteville’s proposed ban on 10-year-old trailers is not as stringent or as loose as some area regulations.

While the county is wrestling with its rules on mobile homes and trailer parks, area towns have been battling the issue for a number of years, with a variety of results.

Whiteville passed a plan limiting the relocation of manufactured homes 10 years of age or older in September, but this week the city council ordered the staff to revisit the ordinance after complaints from mobile home park owners.

Severe weather has played a big role in helping some municipalities avoid problems with older trailers.

Hurricane wind zones are determined by the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) and are used to construct other regulations, such as building codes.

Southeastern North Carolina is in the FEMA Wind Zone III, which means buildings must be able to withstand 200-mile per hour winds. Winds of that strength are common with tornados, and 200-mph gusts are regularly recorded in hurricanes.

The wind rules help define the size and strength of building materials, and older trailers often don’t meet the standards required for Southeastern North Carolina. All trailers built after 1976 must also be built to meet fire codes. Some towns have passed mobile home standards addressing both safety standards and aesthetics based on the wind zone rules, and in some cases local rules exceed state requirements.

A number of area towns have successfully used safety and zoning rules to keep out older model trailers.

Lake Waccamaw bans all trailers more than five years old, according to Town Manager Darren Currie. The rule doesn’t mean a trailer installed in 2007 must be moved out by 2012, but it does allow the town some control in the installation of manufactured homes.

Al Leonard, the full-time town manager for Tabor City and part-time administrator for Fair Bluff, Brunswick, Cerro Gordo, and Boardman, said age isn’t a qualification with trailers.

“Our biggest concern is the wind zone,” Leonard explained. “Columbus County is in an area that can be affected by hurricanes, and some singlewides just can’t take it.

“We’ve had quite a few attempts to bring in singlewides that weren’t rated for the wind zone,” Leonard said, “and we had to tell them no.”

One of the first towns in the area to tackle the problem was in neighboring Bladen County.

In 2003, Bladenboro discussed banning the importation and set up of any trailer more than 10 years old.
Town Manager Delane Jackson said the council seriously considered passing the ordinance, but it failed when put before the council for a vote.

That didn’t mean the town suddenly saw an influx of older trailers, Jackson said.

Building codes must still be met before a trailer can be put in place.

“Basically we just use the federal HUD (Housing and Urban Development) building guidelines,” Jackson said. “Those standards defining a manufactured home were written in 1976, so you won’t see somebody moving a rusty 1969 singlewide into town. That’s not a manufactured home, based on the HUD rules.”