Terrebonne planners to tighten modular‑home and accessory‑structure definitions; public hearing continued

Planning staff told the Terrebonne Regional Planning Commission on Jan. 15 that they plan to reconcile inconsistent definitions of "modular home" across multiple code sections and to treat modular homes in R‑1 and R‑2 districts as a use requiring a special exception.

The proposal would combine wording from the subdivision regulations, the mobile‑home and residential building‑park regulations, and a shorter draft definition being considered by staff. Planning staff said the existing definitions differ in wording — for example, one definition references compliance with the International Residential Code and delivery by flatbed, while another notes the unit is manufactured and inspected in a remote facility — and recommended creating a single, consistent definition to be used across the ordinances.

Why it matters: Commissioners and residents said they want to protect the character of established single‑family neighborhoods while allowing for modern prefabricated construction. Commissioners argued that requiring a special exception handled by the Board of Adjustment would let decision‑makers require site‑specific design features — for example, porches or slab‑on‑grade foundations — rather than embedding many detailed conditions in the zoning text and risking arbitrary administrative enforcement.

Planning staff described the core elements of the definitions under consideration as "a sectional prefabricated building or house manufactured and inspected to applicable building codes, assembled on site from factory‑built modules." The staff also proposed expanding the accessory‑structure list to include shipping containers and office trailers in addition to pods.

Public input: Residents and Councilman Kevin Champine urged clearer, future‑proof language to distinguish mobile homes (transported on axles and governed by different codes) from modular homes. Champine said some transported structures arrived on axles, which would make them mobile homes under the parish definitions, and asked staff to anticipate new fabrication types coming to the parish.

Next steps: The commission voted to continue the public hearing on the definitions so staff can clean up and consolidate the language and return with a recommended text. A separate preliminary rezoning (6634 and 6642 West Main Street) was set for public hearing on Feb. 26 at 6 p.m. for a different agenda item.