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Featured Inquiry (04/28/08)

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Question:

Must modular homes be allowed in areas of a city that are zoned for residential development in the same manner as manufactured and mobile homes?

Answer:

Yes. The operative provision is RCW 35A.21.312, which, in relevant part, states:

A code city may not enact any statute or ordinance that has the effect, directly or indirectly, of discriminating against consumers' choices in the placement or use of a home in such a manner that is not equally applicable to all homes. Homes built to 42 U.S.C. Sec. 5401-5403 standards (as amended in 2000) must be regulated for the purposes of siting in the same manner as site built homes, factory built homes, or homes built to any other state construction or local design standard. ...

Note that the federal law provisions above referenced (42 U.S.C. Sec. 5401-5403) relate to manufactured homes.

RCW 35A.21.312 and other similar statutes were amended in 2004 to require that cities and counties "regulate manufactured homes built to federal manufactured housing construction standards no differently than they regulate other types of homes."

Modular homes are defined in RCW 46.04.303 to include "factory-assembled" structures. RCW 46.04.302 defines "mobile home" and "manufactured home." RCW 35A.21.312 lists "factory-built homes" in the same manner as "site built homes" and other types of homes (including manufactured homes since 2004, as above referenced). RCW 35.63.160 provides additional provisions related to designated manufactured homes and new manufactured homes.

Therefore, with respect to regulating - which would include zoning regulations - placement or use, cities may not discriminate against consumers' choices in the placement or use of modular homes in a manner that is not equally applicable to manufactured homes, "... site built homes, factory built homes [i.e., modular homes], or homes built to any other state construction or local design standard."