Fairfax County is one step closer to updating its regulations for manufactured homes for the first time in nearly half a century.
At its meeting last Wednesday (Nov. 19), the Fairfax County Planning Commission recommended that the Board of Supervisors amend the Comprehensive Plan and zoning ordinance guidelines for manufactured homes, which are sometimes called mobile homes or trailers.
“Our objectives in these amendments is to preserve these communities as much as possible as they are as they are communities where residents know and support one another,” said At-Large Commissioner Candice Bennett. “Manufactured housing remains a critical piece of the affordable housing toolkit.”
Eleven commissioners voted in favor of the recommendation, while Franconia District Commissioner Chris Landgraf abstained without explanation.
The current zoning rules for manufactured home parks have largely remained the same since they were adopted in 1978.
Countywide, there are currently seven existing parks for manufactured homes with roughly 1,770 homes, mostly located in the Route 1 corridor. Several of the parks were already in existence when the current rules were installed and secured exemptions from some regulations.
Before a public hearing on the proposed amendments during the planning commission’s Nov. 12 meeting, county staff noted that the availability of manufactured homes has declined in recent decades due to redevelopment. Once home to 10 sites with 1,712 units, the Richmond Highway corridor now has five communities with 1,094 units.
The existing properties would still be grandfathered into the ordinance, meaning the new zoning rules would apply only to future development or redevelopment of the properties.
The proposal adds a description of mobile homes in county code as important affordable housing and states that existing units should be preserved or replaced on a one-to-one basis if one of the communities is redeveloped. Developers are also encouraged to provide relocation assistance to any displaced residents.
The new regulations would increase the allowed density for manufactured home developments from six units per acre to 10, increase the number of required parking spaces from 1.5 to 2 per unit, and revise some setback requirements.
The changes to manufactured home regulations were spurred by recommendations released in 2021 by a Manufactured Housing Task Force that sought to preserve existing mobile home parks and provide better protections for their residents. The recommendations were adopted by the Board of Supervisors in 2022.
