2019-010 Code Enforcement of Mobile Home CommunitiesDate: January 18, 2019 Report No. 2019-010
INFORMAL STAFF REPORT
TO MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
SUBJECT:
Code Compliance of mobile home communities in the City of Denton
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The purpose of this report is to provide City Council with a general overview of mobile home
community code compliance within the City of Denton.
BACKGROUND:
During Concluding Items at the Jan. 8 City Council Meeting, Council Member Meltzer requested
that Code Enforcement assess the conditions of manufactured home developments near the
proposed Woodlands of McKinney site on East McKinney Street in the City of Denton (COD).
DISCUSSION:
There are currently two manufactured home communities in the COD near the proposed site of
the Woodlands of McKinney: Ashli Oaks and Denton Falls Parks. Ashli Oaks has approximately
636 homes and Denton Falls has around 188 homes. Ashli Oaks is currently the largest
manufactured home community in the COD. The average mobile home park in the COD
contains approximately 210 homes.
There are other manufactured home communities and developments that allow manufactured
homes in the same general vicinity of the proposed Woodlands of McKinney site that are not in
the COD and are not regulated nor inspected by the COD. These other communities and
neighborhoods fall under the jurisdiction of Denton County. Denton County does not have a
property maintenance code comparable to the COD. Overall, the standards for property
maintenance are much lower outside of the city limits.
CIS Approach
Community Improvement Services’ (CIS) approach to manufactured home communities is the
same as any other residential community in the COD. These communities are expected to
maintain the same standards and adhere to the same code requirements as traditionally built
homes. In manufactured home communities, the developer typically owns the property and
leases pad sites to owners of mobile homes. The inspection of these communities, as a whole,
can be challenging because the CIS officer must know what is considered part of the leased pad
site space, which is generally the responsibility of the homeowner (or lessee), and which areas
are considered common space of the community, which are the responsibility of the property
owner through their management company.
To address the unique aspects of manufactured home communities and to ensure consistency
across all of the mobile home communities across the City, CIS now has one officer dedicated to
regular mobile home community inspections. This CIS officer established a positive working
Date: January 18, 2019 Report No. 2019-010
relationship with the management companies for COD’s manufactured home communities while
ensuring that the communities are at or being brought back up to COD standards.
The majority of the mobile home communities throughout the COD are fairly comparable in
their overall quality and code compliance. Ashli Oaks and Denton Falls, which are near the
proposed Woodlands of McKinney development, have average code compliance when compared
to other manufactured home communities in the COD. The table below lists each manufactured
home community in the COD, the number of homes in each community, the number of cases
opened in 2018 in each community (remember the majority of all cases are voluntarily
remediated), and the number of cases per home in each community (# of cases/# of homes).
2018 Mobile Home Community Code Compliance
Name # of Homes # of Cases in 2018 # of Cases Per Home
ASHLI OAKS 636 283 .44
CENTER POINT 175 138 .78
COUNTRYVIEW 78 127 1.63
DENTON FALLS 188 301 1.60
GASTON* 24 157 6.54
HICKORY CREEK 382 5 .01
HILLCREST 55 26 .47
LAKEWOOD
ESTATES
406 14 .03
PECAN CREEK 225 234 1.04
RIVIERA 32 76 2.38
SHERWOOD 113 287 2.53
TOTAL 2,314 1,648 .71
*Staff is actively working with the owner of this property to improve compliance at this site
CONCLUSION
The lifespan of manufactured homes is cyclical. These cycles primarily occur when one or more
of the property or management company changes. The key for CIS to successfully manage these
cycles is to first encourage any positive changes that a new owner and/or management company
may want to implement. Upon learning about ownership or management changes, CIS tries to
minimize any potential dips in the overall quality of the community through concentrated,
proactive outreach for manufactured home communities. Additionally, prior to the Council
request last week, CIS was already working in the Ashli Oaks Community ensuring that the
COD are being maintained and has now moved over to Denton Falls.
STAFF CONTACT:
Brad Lahart, Assistant Fire Chief and Fire Marshal
(940) 349-8860
Brad.Lahart@cityofdenton.com