From Joplin Missouri comes a story about community concern over property values should maodular homes arrive. From KOAM TV, MHProNews.com learns residents are upset that modular units are coming to the Cedar Ridge neighborhood, and officials say there’s nothing in the city code to prevent it. The city approved a building permit in November for three modular homes. “We were devastated,” homeowner Harvey Hutchinson says in the report. The homes are produced by Clayton Homes and the companies’ Director of Marketing, Carl Hill says in the report studies have confirmed there’s no evidence adding modular to a neighborhood mix results in reduced value of adjacent properties. Some residents say in the report however the modular units look like manufactured homes. The article attempts to explain the distinctions by making unfortunate and inaccurate comparisons saying that manufactured housing “is more of what people think of as a mobile home, and the modular houses are basically built up to our code and basically constructed off site.” According to the Manufactured Housing Institute, manufactured homes are federally regulated by the HUD Code. The HUD Code provides the design and construction requirements for the complete production of the entire home in the factory, with some modifications permitted for on-site completion. Modular, panelized and pre-cut homes fall under the auspice of the model building code enforced in the jurisdiction where the home is to be located. Built before 1976, mobile homes, however were not built to the HUD Code.
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