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Planning group OKs standards for manufactured home parks By CHRIS BRISTOL The Medford Planning Commission approved new rules Wednesday that affect developers who build manufactured home parks and the people who live there. The rules sound boring, raising basic infrastructure standards that developers must comply with when they build manufactured home parks: street widths, sidewalks, curbs, storm drains, landscaping and so on. But some industry officials opposed change, fearing new standards would drive up the cost of construction, which in turn could affect the sticker price of their pre-fab products. Manufactured homes are better built today than their trailer-park predecessors, but they still cost less than so-called stick-built houses. Census figures from 1990 estimated the need for 47 percent of Medford's housing to be affordable to people classified as low or moderate income by 2010. Medford is the future home of one of the biggest manufactured home parks in the state. Although the project has been scaled back somewhat, plans for Stonebrook Park (off Rossanley Drive) once called for more than 500 homes. Against that backdrop, members of the Planning Commission defended the new rules as a way to enforce construction of basic infrastructure and ensure such parks are "compatible" with neighborhoods that have conventional homes. Moreover, commissioners said the new rules are not even new because they've been trying to enforce them for more than five years. Without anything on the books, however, developers tended to run afoul of the Planning and Site Plan Commission, resulting in long, drawn-out negotiations. The new rules should streamline the process for everybody involved: developers, city planners and members of the Planning Commission themselves. "This saves time and creates expectations that everybody understands," Commissioner Steven Lilley said during the meeting. The new rules (technically amendments to the city's Land Development Code) must be approved by the City Council before taking effect. The vote Thursday was a recommendation. Some opposition is expected. The Planning Commission held several public hearings and study sessions in the matter prior to Thursday's vote. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA