Kansas Attorney General Opinion 1992-008

ROBERT T. STEPHAN
ATTORNEY GENERAL
January 15, 1992
ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINION NO. 92- 8
The Honorable Dale M. Sprague
State Representative, Seventy-Third District
P.O. Box 119
McPherson, Kansas 67460
Re: Cities and Municipalities--Planning and Zoning--
Manufactured Homes
Synopsis: Pursuant to section 12 of chapter 33 of the 1991
Session Laws of Kansas, "[w]henever a federal
manufactured home construction and safety standard
established pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 5401 et
seq. is in effect, no state agency or political
subdivision shall have any authority to establish,
or to continue in effect, with respect to any
manufactured home covered, any standard regarding
construction or safety applicable to the same
aspect of performance of such manufactured home
which is not identical to the federal manufactured
home construction and safety standard."
Accordingly, any standard adopted by a city,
including any building code provision, which
contravenes the above-quoted limitation is void,
and does not constitute grounds for excluding a
residential design manufactured home from the
city's single family residential district.
Additionally, under section 19 of chapter 56 of the
1991 Session Laws of Kansas, a governing body of a
city is prohibited from adopting or enforcing
zoning regulations which have the effect of
excluding residential design manufactured homes (as
defined therein) from single family residential
districts solely because they are manufactured

homes. Cited herein: L. 1991, ch. 33, § 12; L.
1991, ch. 56, § 19.
Dear Representative Sprague:
You request our interpretation of L. 1991, ch. 56, § 19 and
L. 1991, ch. 33, § 12. Specifically, you ask whether a
residential design manufactured home (as that term is defined
in section 2 of chapter 56 of the 1991 Session Laws of Kansas)
can be excluded from a city's single family residential
district, because it does not comply with provisions of that
city's building code which are not identical to the comparable
provisions of the federal manufactured home construction and
safety standards established pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 5401 et
seq.
Section 2(a)(7) of chpater 56 of the 1991 Session Laws of
Kansas defines a residential design manufactured home as
follows:
"'Residential design manufactured home'
means a manufactured home on permanent
foundation which has (A) minimum
dimensions of 22 body feet in width, (B) a
pitched roof and (C) siding and roofing
materials which are customarily used on
site built homes."
L. 1991, ch. 33, § 12 limits a city's regulatory authority
with respect to manufactured homes, and provides as follows:
"Whenever a federal manufactured home
construction and safety standard
established pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 5401
et seq., is in effect, no state agency
or political subdivision shall have any
authority either to establish, or to
continue in effect, with respect to any
manufactured home covered, any standard
regarding construction or safety
applicable to the same aspect of
performance of such manufactured home
which is not identical to the federal
manufactured home construction and safety
standard. Nothing in this section shall

prohibit the adoption or enforcement of a
construction or safety standard by a state
agency or political subdivision applicable
to a building which is open to the public
for the purpose of providing services or
products to the public."
In addition to the above-quoted limitations regarding
construction and safety standards, L. 1991, ch. 56, § 19(a)
limits a city's zoning authority with respect to manufactured
homes:
"The governing body shall not adopt or
enforce zoning regulations which have the
effect of excluding manufactured homes
from the entire zoning jurisdiction of the
governing body. In addition, the
governing body shall not adopt or enforce
zoning regulations which have the effect
of excluding residential design
manufactured homes from single family
residential districts solely because they
are manufactured homes."
In accordance with the above-quoted statutory provisions, it
is our opinion that any standard adopted by a city which
contravenes the regulatory limitation prescribed by L. 1991,
ch. 33, § 12, is void, and does not constitute grounds for
excluding a residential design manufactured home from the
city's single family residential district. Additionally,
pursuant to L. 1991, ch. 56, § 19(a), no city shall adopt or
enforce zoning regulations which have the effect of excluding
residential design manufactured homes from single family
residential districts solely because they are manufactured
homes.
Very truly yours,
ROBERT T. STEPHAN
Attorney General of Kansas
Terrence R. Hearshman
Assistant Attorney General
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