THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 13, 1994 TAG: 9407130433
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 39 lines
A new federal regulation toughening construction standards for mobile homes so they can withstand hurricanes takes effect today, and will have an impact on manufacturers, dealers and buyers in coastal Virginia and North Carolina and other parts of the Atlantic and Gulf waterfront.
Drafted by the American Society of Civil Engineers and adopted last January by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the regulation requires mobile homes to withstand 100 mph winds in the Virginia cities of Norfolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth and Virginia Beach, and several North Carolina counties.
They must withstand 110 mph winds in Dare, Hyde and Carteret counties in North Carolina. The new standards replaces the old 80 mph regulation adopted in 1976.
The standard goes into effect despite a court challenge by the Florida Manufactured Housing Association, with the support of associations in North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi. The case is now under appeal in the the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.
The regulation also forbids future location of mobile homes within 1,500 feet of the coastline in high-wind areas, except when owners provide for added anchoring.
James Poirot, president of the American Society of Civil Engineers, said the new standards will make mobile homes safer and keep prices affordable, a claim disputed by the industry.
John Witcher, the owner of Basic Homes and Development Corp. in Chesapeake, said the government has adopted guidelines without telling manufacturers how to comply. Witcher also said mobile home prices will increase considerably because of the new regulations. by CNB