City changes policy on manufactured home placement

After the debacle of dealing with last year's placement of a manufactured home off Goni Road, Carson City officials have changed the way they deal with new manufactured homes coming into traditional neighborhoods.

The 1999 Legislature approved Senate Bill 323, which allowed the addition of manufactured homes in neighborhoods of stick-built homes. City standards for manufactured homes call for them to be "similar" to homes in their neighborhood.

The law allowed Jack and Margaret Ruckman to put a new brown, triple-wide manufactured home on their Goni Road lot. However, their neighbors complained about the home, and city officials decided the Ruckmans were not in compliance with their permits.

Carson City Chief Building Official Phil Herrington said city officials never took into account while setting rules for manufactured homes that the homes would need to be inspected. The Ruckmans' contractor had signed documents noting the home's roof would be steep enough to match its neighbors, when in fact it wasn't. Now, all manufactured homes seeking placement on a traditional home lot will be inspected for compliance before they can be set up, Herrington said.

The city has approved the placement of two other manufactured homes since their experience with the Ruckmans. One was placed off Curry Street and needs some flood control work before it can be occupied. The other was placed off Carson River Road with no incident.

"We learned a couple of things," said Walt Sullivan, community development director. "When a home goes out there, we're going to be proactive, and before it's set up, we'll do our inspections."