LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Manufactured Housing Institute contacts Florence County

The following letter was sent by Allen Hutto, General Counsel for the Manufactured Housing Institute of South Carolina, to K.G. “Rusty” Smith, Jr., Chairman of the Florence County Council, regarding the W. Marion manufactured home situation in Johnsonville. The letter has been printed with Mr. Hutto’s permission.

Dear Mr. Smith:
I am writing to express our concerns about the proposed text amendment for the Florence County zoning ordinance that would create two new zones that exclude manufactured homes.  Our local members feel that this change in the law is bad for both area businesses and for the people who live in manufactured homes.

Discriminating against manufactured homes in Florence County is not fair to county residents, particularly when there is a good alternative already in place.  The Town of Johnsonville—where this change in the law apparently originates from—is already zoned to exclude manufactured homes that do not meet strict requirements.  Any manufactured home going into this area must be multiple-section, a minimum of 900 square feet, have a minimum roof pitch of 3:12, have shingles like a site-built home, have siding like a site-built home, and meet minimum roof overhang requirements.  These requirements mean that single-wides or unattractive “mobile homes” can not come into the area.  Homes that meet these requirements will often be indistinguishable from site-built homes.

On an economic note, now is a particularly poor time to discriminate against families who live in manufactured homes.  The median household income in Johnsonville from the most recent census data is $34,274, which is even lower than the Florence County figure of $35,144.  Taking into consideration the devastating recession we are currently in, those figures are now likely considerably lower.  This means that a manufactured home is the only type of home that many Johnsonville and Florence County residents can afford.  Discriminating against manufactured homes is discriminating against affordable housing:  passing your new zoning law will actually be a vote to deny homes to many people in Johnsonville. 

Manufactured homes make up over 22% of the housing stock in Florence County.  It is clear that manufactured homes are an important form of affordable housing in Florence County, and equally clear that a manufactured home is all that many Johnsonville residents in particular can afford.  Given the popularity of manufactured housing and the economic situation of county and Johnsonville residents, it simply does not make sense to discriminate against someone because of their choice of housing.  Our members ask that you vote to deny the proposed change to the zoning ordinance.

Regards,
Allen Hutto
General Counsel
Manufactured Housing Institute of South Carolina