Bryan City Council approve mobile home park fee

The Bryan City Council on Tuesday approved a new mobile home park fee that will require owners to pay for inspections and code enforcement at the 37 mobile home parks in the city.

Such a fee has actually been in place since August 2010, but the city hasn't imposed it due to complaints by park owners that the fee is too expensive and inequitable. Tuesday's action reduced the amount that will be charged.

The 2010 fee included a base cost of $500, plus $10 for each mobile or manufactured home in the community. Under the original fee, a park with just two mobile homes would have to pay $520 per year -- about $260 per home. Meanwhile, a park with 350 homes would have to pay $4,000 -- $16 per home.

The new fee structure eliminated the $500 base cost. Instead, each park would pay $10 per lot. If the park is in compliance with city regulations, the fee would be cut in half.

The fee was originally added as the city began ramping up efforts to improve conditions of its mobile home parks. The staff predicted that it would take about 3,000 staff hours per year to do that work. Since then, 14 mobile homes have been ordered to be torn down, 117 had their utilities cut off for safety reasons and many others have been moved out of the city, staff said.

"There is a significant amount of progress that has been made over the last year," said Planning Director Kevin Russell.

But now that the initial work has been done, city staff said it doesn't expect to need to devote as many hours per year to mobile home parks in the future. That means it won't need to raise as much from a fee, staff said.

The fee change was approved by a unanimous vote.

In other action Tuesday, the council pulled from the agenda new paint color regulations for commercial businesses in the city.

The proposed guidelines are designed to protect property values of existing buildings by banning new structures that are too flamboyant or unattractive. About 500 colors from the Sherman Williams palette would be restricted to between 5 and 15 percent of a new building's facade. About 1,000 colors that are less vibrant -- about two-thirds of the Sherman Williams paint offerings -- would still be allowed for unlimited use.

Deputy City Manager Joey Dunn said the item was pulled to give the Planning and Zoning Commission more time to discuss the rule changes. At a workshop meeting last month, the council raised questions about whether paint patterns like stripes or dots should also be restricted.

The city is also considering guidelines that would regulate the architecture of buildings. Those new rules, which are designed to outlaw bland, box-like structures, are also expected to go to the council next month and will also be discussed further before going to council.

Dunn said a vote on the issue may be rescheduled for March.