Both the Henderson City Commission and Henderson County Fiscal Court on Tuesday began the process of complying with a state law passed in 2025 that allows qualified manufactured homes to be put on any parcel zoned single-family residential.
That’s currently not the case in either the city or the county, as both have in their respective zoning ordinances specific zoning where manufactured homes can locate.
As a way to increase affordable housing, the Kentucky General Assembly passed HB 160 in 2025. One piece of the legislation is that “it prohibits a local government from adopting or enforcing zoning regulations that treat manufactured homes differently from single-family homes,” according to the Legislative Research Commission’s website.
Local governments across the state must get into compliance with the state statute by July 1. Local officials said that the law was passed as a way for more affordable housing to be available across the state.
One of the key points is defining what a qualified manufactured home is. According to Kentucky Revised Statures 100.348, a qualified manufactured home:
- Is five years old or less
- Has parts that only operate during transport removed
- Is affixed to a permanent foundation
- Is 20 feet wide at its smallest width
- Has a front door facing the street
- Is at least 900 square feet
Both governments are focusing on ways to get in compliance with the state law but also protect the characteristics of neighborhoods, said both city and county officials Tuesday.
As part of the law, local governments can enforce certain architectural features on a manufactured home, but those same standards must be enforced on all single-family homes that are built.
In KRS 100.348, there is a list of five compatibility standards that local governments may choose to adopt for new qualified manufactured homes placed within neighborhoods or on lots that are 1/8 of a mile from existing housing. Those standards are:
- Roof pitch
- Square footage of livable space
- Type and quality of exterior finishing materials
- Foundation skirting
- Existence and type of attached structures
For instance, one of the city’s chosen compatibility standards is for all new or newly relocated manufactured homes to have at least a 24-square-foot covered front porch with columns or similar support, which falls in the standard of “Existence and type of attached structures.”
The city is also proposing a 4:12 roof pitch, which is 18.4 degrees.
Additionally, the front door must face the street, and the manufactured home must be set on a permanent foundation, said Henderson City Attorney Dawn Kelsey.
These standards will also need to be in place for other newly built residences, as well, according to city officials.
City officials also brought up the issue of neighborhood restrictive covenants and homeowner association rules already in place. According to Kelsey, those are still valid, and the city does not have jurisdiction over these rules.
So, if a person wants to place a qualified manufactured home on a tract of land in a neighborhood that has restrictive covenants in place, the city by law must grant a permit to do that, city officials said Tuesday.
Residents of those neighborhoods with restrictive covenants, for example, would have to seek solutions in the court system if they did not want a qualified manufactured home to locate in their neighborhood, officials said.
City Codes Administrator Steve Davis said the city currently has in place all the standards that will be required of qualified manufactured homes on other structures except that of a covered front porch, which has been added so that manufactured homes fit better with a neighborhood’s aesthetics.
“We’re trying to protect the established neighborhoods,” Davis said.
The Henderson City Commission voted unanimously to send the matter to the Henderson City-County Planning Commission to hold a public hearing and make a recommendation back to the commission.
Similarly, the Henderson County Fiscal Court approved a resolution at Tuesday’s meeting which sent the issue to the planning commission to hold a public hearing and send a recommendation back to the fiscal court.
County Codes Administrator Randy Tasa held much of the same sentiments as city officials, saying at Tuesday’s fiscal court meeting that the county’s goal is to come into compliance with the state law but to also protect the characteristics of a neighborhood.
Tasa also said that neighborhood covenant restrictions will stay in place.
The county will require all qualified manufactured homes to have a foundation, and the front door must face the street, Tasa said.
Unlike the city, the county is asking that a qualified manufactured home to meet at least three of the following criteria to match the surrounding homes:
- Must have a 4:12 roof pitch
- Contain a covered porch of at least 24 square feet
- Have a building foundation with five or more corners—Tasa said a traditional home usually has more offsets and so this will help to stay in a neighborhood’s characteristics
- Incorporate an attached garage that has an upper story or half story with living space
- Use the same or higher quality exterior finishing materials of existing residential structures
Another proposal is that manufactured homes that are replaced in the county will need to be 20 years old or less, Tasa said.
The city of Henderson’s age limit is five years old or less, Davis said.
That does not mean that a current manufactured home greater than the age limits must be replaced. It means that if a person wants to locate a manufactured home on a different parcel, or replace an existing manufactured home, then the replacement can’t be older than the respective age limits.
Judge-Executive Brad Schneider pointed out that the compatibility standards are only for qualified manufactured homes that are within 1/8 of a mile of a residence.
Brian Bishop, the planning commission’s executive director, said the planning commission will hold a public hearing at its April 7 meeting in the third-floor meeting room of the Municipal Center. It starts at 6 p.m.
Bishop said that at the planning commission’s April 7 meeting, the body will most likely hear the public comments about both city and county ordinance proposals at the same time, but would most likely have two separate votes and provide one recommendation for the city and one for the county.
