Can a New York town ban using old mobile homes as backyard storage units?

Plain-English summary

The Town of Mayfield was concerned about old mobile homes being parked on residential lots as backyard storage sheds. The structures were unsightly and the town worried they were fire hazards. The town attorney asked whether the town could simply ban that use.

The AG concluded the town had authority to regulate, but not to uniformly prohibit without procedural protections.

Town Law § 130(16) is the statute on unsafe buildings. It authorizes a town board to enact regulations providing for removal and repair of unsafe buildings, but only with the procedural safeguards in § 130(16)(a)-(e): inspection by a duly appointed town official; notice to the owner specifying in what ways the structure is unsafe and an order to make it safe or remove it; a specified time for compliance; filing of the notice with the county clerk; and a hearing before the town board. The AG had previously held in 1984 Op Atty Gen (Inf) 176 that regulating unsafe buildings is an exercise of the town's broad police power under Municipal Home Rule Law § 10(1)(ii)(a)(12).

The AG also flagged additional police-power precedents: Op Atty Gen (Inf) No. 90-5 (towns may regulate junk); 1986 Op Atty Gen (Inf) 60 (parking on front lawns of residential buildings may be prohibited). Old mobile homes used exclusively as fixed-base storage facilities fit within the same category of structure that can be regulated.

The crucial limit: the town's local law had to operate through investigation of each trailer, application of safety standards, and the § 130(16) procedural sequence. Ordering removal of unsafe trailers could only follow notice, opportunity to repair or remove, and a hearing. A uniform ban that skipped those steps would conflict with § 130(16) and be invalid.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2002. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Could the town just use zoning instead?

Zoning is a separate authority (Town Law Article 16). A zoning ordinance could regulate where mobile homes can be located or what accessory uses are permitted in a residential zone, with the zoning procedural framework (notice, hearings, variances). That sits alongside the § 130(16) path the AG analyzed; this opinion did not preempt a parallel zoning approach.

What counts as a "fixed-base storage facility"?

The AG used the phrase to describe an old mobile home parked permanently on a lot and used as a storage shed (not a residence and not mobile). The opinion did not address roadworthy trailers or trailers used periodically.

Do the same procedures apply to other unsafe structures?

Yes. § 130(16) covers unsafe buildings generally. The AG had applied the same framework to junk regulation and front-lawn parking. The procedural sequence (inspection, notice, time to comply, hearing) is the consistent template.

Could the town require new mobile homes to be registered?

The opinion did not analyze a registration regime. A town could likely require permits and registration as part of its police power, subject to the same general rule that the registration scheme cannot bypass statutory safeguards on enforcement.

What if the owner doesn't comply after the hearing?

§ 130(16) provides for filing notice with the county clerk, which creates a lien-like record, and (in conjunction with the town's local law) authorizes the town to remove the structure and charge the cost back to the owner. The AG did not detail the post-hearing enforcement; § 130(16) and the town's local code govern it.

Background and statutory framework

Town Law § 130(16) is the unsafe-buildings statute. The procedural safeguards in (a)-(e) form a notice-and-hearing template that must be respected in any town regulation aimed at removal of unsafe structures.

Municipal Home Rule Law § 10(1)(ii)(a)(12) is the general police power grant to local governments to legislate on the protection, order, conduct, safety, health, and well-being of persons or property in the locality.

Municipal Home Rule Law § 10(1)(ii)(d)(3) authorizes local laws that amend or supersede the Town Law, so long as the legislature has not expressly prohibited supersession and the local law is consistent with the Constitution and general laws.

The relationship between the two: § 10(1)(ii)(a)(12) is the affirmative grant; § 10(1)(ii)(d)(3) lets the town tailor Town Law provisions, but does not let the town discard procedural safeguards that the Town Law builds in.

Citations

• Town Law § 130(16) (unsafe buildings; regulations).
• Town Law § 130(16)(a)-(e) (procedural safeguards: inspection, notice, time, filing, hearing).
• Municipal Home Rule Law § 10(1)(ii)(a)(12) (police power; safety and well-being).
• Municipal Home Rule Law § 10(1)(ii)(d)(3) (supersession of Town Law by local law).
• 1984 Op Atty Gen (Inf) 176 (regulation of unsafe buildings is exercise of police power).
• Op Atty Gen (Inf) No. 90-5 (regulation of junk).
• 1986 Op Atty Gen (Inf) 60 (parking on front lawns of residential buildings).

Source

• Landing page: https://ag.ny.gov/libraries-documents/opinions/opinions-year
• Original PDF: https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/opinions/I_2002-2_pw.pdf

Original opinion text

TOWN LAW §§ 130(16); MUNICIPAL HOME RULE LAW § 10(1)(ii)(a)(12),
10(1)(ii)(d)(2).
A town may regulate the use of old mobile homes as fixed-based storage facilities pursuant to section 130(16) of the Town
Law, but it may not enact a local law that uniformly prohibits
such structures without satisfying the statute's procedural
safeguards regarding removal and repair of unsafe buildings and
structures.
February 11, 2002
Eleanor M. Zimmerman, Esq.
Town Attorney
Town of Mayfield
352 County Hwy. 146
Gloversville, New York 12078

Informal Opinion
No. 2002-2

Dear Ms. Zimmerman:
You have inquired whether the Town of Mayfield may enact a
local law prohibiting the use of old mobile homes (trailers) as
storage facilities. The town is concerned that such structures
appear unsightly, and may constitute fire hazards or otherwise be
unsafe. We conclude that the town may regulate such structures
pursuant to N.Y. Town Law § 130(16), but that it may not enact a
local law that uniformly prohibits such structures without
satisfying the Town Law's procedural safeguards regarding removal
and repair of unsafe buildings and structures.
Section 130(16) of the Town Law authorizes a town board to
enact regulations providing for the removal and repair of unsafe
buildings, in accordance with certain enumerated procedural
safeguards. Town Law § 130(16)(a)-(e). Before ordering the
removal or repair of a building deemed unsafe, the town must
provide for an inspection and report by a duly appointed town
official; serve notice upon the property owner specifying the
particulars in which a building or structure is unsafe or
dangerous and an order requiring same to be made safe and secure
or removed; specify the time within which the person served may
commence the securing or removal of such structures; file the
notice in the office of the county clerk in the county within
which such building or structure is located; and provide a
hearing before the town board. Town Law § 130(16)(a)-(e).
A town may also adopt rules relating to its property,
affairs or government which amend or supercede the provisions of
the Town Law, provided that the legislature has not expressly
prohibited the adoption of such local laws, and that the
regulations are not inconsistent with the constitution or any
general law. N.Y. Municipal Home Rule Law § 10(1)(ii)(d)(3). In
delegating police power to local governments, the legislature has
also specifically authorized towns to adopt local laws in
relation to the government, protection, order, conduct, safety,
health and well-being of persons or property therein. Municipal
Home Rule Law § 10(1)(a)(12). We have previously opined that
"the regulation of unsafe buildings" is clearly an exercise of
this broad police power, and that towns may therefore regulate
unsafe structures if such regulation is in accordance with both
Town Law 130(16) and Municipal Home Rule Law § 10(1)(ii)(d)(3).
1984 Op. Att'y Gen. (Inf.) 176.
We have opined that this police power authorizes the
regulation of junk, Op. Att'y Gen. (Inf.) No. 90-5, and may be
used to prohibit the parking of vehicles on the front lawns of
residential buildings, 1986 Op. Att'y Gen. (Inf.) 60. Consistent
with this precedent, we view an old trailer that is used
exclusively as a fixed-base storage facility as a structure
subject to a town's regulation under Town Law § 130(16) and the
town's police power. In our view, this broad delegation of
authority may be invoked to regulate trailers by establishing a
procedure whereby each trailer is investigated for safety,
applying standards established in the local law. Removal of
unsafe trailers may be ordered only after the procedural
requirements of Town Law § 130(16) have been satisfied.
We believe, therefore, that a town may properly regulate the
use of old mobile homes as fixed-base storage facilities pursuant
to Town Law § 130(16), or its police powers, but that it may not
uniformly prohibit such structures in a manner that conflicts
with the procedural requirements of Town Law § 130(16).
The Attorney General renders formal opinions only to
officers and departments of State government. This perforce is
an informal and unofficial expression of the views of this
Office.
Very truly yours,
JAMES COLE
Assistant Solicitor General
In Charge of Opinions
By:_________
PATRICK J. WALSH
Assistant Solicitor General