Plainville, Mass., Code of Bylaws ch 653 § 653-4
Basic regulations (Plainville Mobile Home Parks)
Operative Text
A. No mobile home park shall be less than five acres in area, exclusive of park streets and the area provided for recreation, service, and other permanent buildings. B. There shall be no more than eight mobile home lots laid out on each acre, exclusive of park streets and the area provided for recreation, service, and other permanent buildings. C. There shall be provided central facilities for recreation and services, such as laundry, which shall be available to all mobile home park residents. D. At least one off-street parking space, substantially equivalent to a ten-foot-by-twenty-foot rectangle, shall be provided for each mobile home lot. E. The occupied area of a mobile home lot shall not exceed 50% of the lot area. F. No mobile home shall be located closer than 15 feet to the nearest mobile home lot line or park street, and no mobile home accessory building shall be located closer than 10 feet to such a lot line or park street, except as specifically authorized by the Board with the advice of the Planning Board, in a cluster or other arrangement deemed to be suited to the terrain or other considerations. Each mobile home shall be located with at least a thirty-foot set back from any abutting public street or highway. G. Streets. (1) The street system shall conform to construction standards set forth in Chapter 540 , Subdivision of Land, of Division 4, Planning Board Regulations, of the Code of the Town of Plainville for the construction and paving of streets in subdivisions in the Town and shall have direct connection to a public street or highway sufficient to satisfy the safety requirements of the Superintendent of Highways and the Fire Chief. (2) Access streets connecting park streets to public streets or highways shall have a layout of no less than 40 feet in width and shall be acceptable to the Superintendent of Highways as to grading, contour, and surface. (3) Park streets shall have layout of no less than 30 feet in width and have a turnaround with a radius of no less than 30 feet at any terminus. All park streets shall be lighted, named, and marked. All lots on each street shall be marked with a number. The maintenance of park and access streets shall be the responsibility of the mobile home park owner or operator. H. Each mobile home lot within a mobile home park shall have a frontage of at least 50 feet on a park street. I. No mobile home lot shall be located within 100 feet of any stream, pond, lake, or other waterway except where public sewage facilities are available and utilized, and the location will not present a potential flood hazard. J. No license shall be granted for establishing or developing a mobile home park unless a connection is made to a municipal water supply system and all units within the park are connected to it. A private water system for use in a central laundry or other similar use may be permitted at the discretion of the Board. K. Where a public sewage system is available at or within the boundary of the park site, connection shall be made to such system to serve all mobile homes and permanent buildings within the park. L. Storage of mobile homes. (1) Mobile homes shall not be stored or displayed on park premises except when mounted on a pad on a lot. New mobile homes displayed for sale by the park owner or operator must be sold for use within the park in which they are displayed. (2) Used mobile homes offered for sale by individual mobile homeowners must be displayed on a pad on a lot within the park but may be sold either for use within the park to an individual or to the park owner or operator, or for use outside the park. The park owner or operator may also display used mobile homes on a pad on a lot for resale within the park premises. (3) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as permitting the storage of unoccupied mobile homes in any park for sale in the ordinary course of business, or as inventory, or as permitting the actual sale of such homes in any park except in those districts, as determined by Chapter 500 , Zoning, of the Code of the Town of Plainville, wherein such commercial activity is permissible with or without permits from the proper authority. M. The developer shall provide for a buffer zone of at least 30 feet with appropriate vegetation between the mobile home park and any adjacent property and shall establish a similar thirty-foot buffer when such mobile home park shall be adjacent to any highway or road.
Plainville, Mass., Code of Bylaws CH. 653 § 653-4 establishes a comprehensive set of baseline physical and operational standards for mobile home parks in Plainville. These standards govern minimum park size (at least five acres), lot density (no more than eight lots per acre), setbacks, parking, street design, water and sewer connections, waterway proximity, storage and sale of mobile homes, and buffer zones. The provision also assigns ongoing maintenance responsibility for park and access streets to the park owner or operator, and requires central recreational and service facilities to be available to all residents.
Plain English — not legal advice.
Operators and developers of mobile home parks in Plainville must design and maintain their properties in compliance with the full range of standards set out in CH. 653 § 653-4. Compliant operators generally ensure that park and access streets meet the construction standards referenced in Chapter 540, that each lot has at least one off-street parking space and at least 50 feet of street frontage, and that connections to municipal water and, where available, public sewer systems are established for all units. Operators also typically maintain the required setbacks and buffer zones, keep streets lighted, named, and marked, and observe the restrictions on mobile home storage and sales to avoid operating outside the scope of what the bylaw permits.
General guidance for property managers — not legal advice for your specific situation. Consult an attorney for advice on your case.
Residents of mobile home parks in Plainville benefit from the baseline protections established by CH. 653 § 653-4, which requires parks to provide central recreational and service facilities, adequate parking, proper street maintenance by the park owner or operator, and connections to municipal water supply. If a park appears to fall short of these standards — for example, if streets are not maintained, required facilities are unavailable, or setback and density requirements seem to be violated — residents may consider raising these concerns with the Plainville Board of Health or other relevant local authority, or consulting a tenant-rights organization familiar with manufactured housing law. Reviewing the full text of CH. 653 § 653-4 alongside any applicable state regulations can help residents understand the full scope of standards their park is expected to meet.
General guidance for tenants — not legal advice for your specific situation. Consult a tenant-rights organization or attorney for advice on your case.
Generated November 11, 2026 — auto-generated, not yet human-reviewed. See /transparency for methodology.
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