01/13/17  Ban On Mobile Homes Lifted In McCroy

McCrory officials have removed a ban on mobile homes that are worth less than $7,000.00. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that officials in the tiny northeastern Arkansas city amended an ordinance Tuesday to remove the ban.

The move came after a civil rights group requested a temporary restraining order to halt the ordinance's enforcement. The Washington-based Equal Justice Under The Law also filed a lawsuit on behalf of an engaged couple who say McCrory's police chief told them on December 7,  they'd have to move out of Woodruff County after the holidays because their mobile home didn't comply with the ordinance. The lawsuit says the ordinance punishes people for being poor.

We checked to see what the current city ordinance in Bearden has to say about mobile homes in the city. According to the wording or an ordinance passed by the Bearden City Council on April 8,  of 2013, any mobile home being moved into the city of Bearden must meet the following requirements prior to having water and sewer hooked up. The mobile home must be inspected for date of manufacture, it cannot be more than 20 years old at the time the mobile home is moved into the city limits, and it must be tied down using anchors for that purpose.

Section two of the ordinance states that within 30 days of hooking up to water and sewer, the mobile home owner must have under skirting installed on all four sides of the home, and section three of the ordinance states failure to comply with section two can cost the home owner ten dollars a day for every day past the 30 days allowed.

The ordinance was passed while Bill Farmer was mayor of Bearden.