In some of Laramie's oldest mobile home parks, a resident who wants to trade a 1960s trailer for a brand-new manufactured home can't do it. There isn't room under the rules.
That may change. At a work session Tuesday, Sept. 22, Laramie City Council members directed city staff to draft changes to the setback requirements that have blocked replacements, especially in West Laramie, The Laramie Reporter's Jeff Victor reported. No votes were taken, but staff are expected to come back with proposals the council can amend, approve or deny.
The 40-foot problem
City Planner Joseph Shahidi told councilors that mobile home parks have their own setback standards, separate from other zones, partly because they pack more people onto fewer acres. One of those rules requires homes to sit 40 feet back from a public right-of-way.
That's measured from "the entire right-of-way," Shahidi said, meaning curb, gutter and sidewalk, not just the street.
Homes that predate West Laramie's annexation into the city in the 1960s are grandfathered in and can sit closer. But a new unit, including a replacement home, has to meet today's setback. On some lots, there just isn't space.
Marge Bottom, whose family owns Bottoms Mobile Home Park, said the rule has stopped at least one resident from replacing her 1960s trailer with a newer home. "If we really want to upgrade these mobile home parks and upgrade the housing, we can't tie the mobile home park owners' hands," she said.
Mayor Sharon Cumbie said the council wants to keep people safe but be reasonable. "Some of these have been in place for 40-50 years, and so we need to ask ourselves: Is this really necessary? And we plan to look at that," she said.
It's not settled yet how far the changes will go, or whether they'll cover parks citywide or only the West Laramie parks.
A big piece of the housing stock
Manufactured homes are often called the nation's largest unsubsidized source of affordable housing, Shahidi said, and "it's no different here." Laramie has 19 manufactured home communities, 13 of them in West Laramie. They range from four to 230 lots and hold an estimated 866 homes, not counting parks outside city limits. Manufactured homes make up about 5.6% of Albany County's housing, compared with 11.5% statewide and 5.4% nationally.
Few new parks have opened in the last 20 years, Shahidi said, and many are aging. He pointed to private streets and utilities that can fail if they aren't kept up. Each park is inspected every two years by planning, code enforcement and fire prevention staff, but the city doesn't inspect individual homes against a habitability standard.
Shahidi also said city code technically says manufactured homes in parks must be owner-occupied, not rented out, though some are being rented as investments.
Councilors could also take up fire risk, RV rules, rentals and the utility fees some parks now charge on top of lot rent. Average lot rent is about $574 a month, according to state figures Shahidi presented. Earlier state reports show Albany County's average rose 40% over five years, from $410 just before the pandemic.
Cumbie said the council doesn't want to drive up residents' costs. "I think the last thing we want to do is to impose such stringent standards that it escalates the cost to the residents of these communities, so we are very mindful of that," she said.
Rep. Karlee Provenza, a Laramie Democrat, offered to work with the city on state-level protections for park residents. Councilor Jim Fried floated the idea of a city fund to help parks with infrastructure upgrades.
Why it matters for Contractors
If Laramie loosens the setback, it could open up replacement work that's been stuck for years. Dealers, installers, foundation crews, electricians and plumbers could all see more calls from West Laramie parks. Each swap means a pull-out, site prep, a set and new hookups.
The bigger picture is aging park infrastructure. Shahidi warned that private streets and utility systems inside older parks can fail if they aren't maintained. If Fried's idea of a city fund for upgrades goes anywhere, that would mean paving, water and sewer work inside the parks.
Contractors should also know about the owner-occupancy rule. If the city decides to enforce or rewrite it, that could change who's buying and placing new homes in the parks.
Watch for the staff proposals to come back to the council. Installers know better than most what fits on a tight lot, so they may want to weigh in.