15-902 Building regulations; zoning; powers; comprehensive plan; manufactured homes.
15-902. Building regulations; zoning; powers; comprehensive plan; manufactured homes.(1) Every city of the primary class shall have power in the area which is within the city or within three miles of the corporate limits of the city and outside of any organized city or village to regulate and restrict: (a) The location, height, bulk, and size of buildings and other structures; (b) the percentage of a lot that may be occupied; (c) the size of yards, courts, and other open spaces; (d) the density of population; and (e) the locations and uses of buildings, structures, and land for trade, industry, business, residences, and other purposes. Such city shall have power to divide the area zoned into districts of such number, shape, and area as may be best suited to carry out the purposes of this section and to regulate, restrict, or prohibit the erection, construction, reconstruction, alteration, or use of buildings, structures, or land within the total area zoned or within districts. All such regulations shall be uniform for each class or kind of buildings throughout each district, but regulations applicable to one district may differ from those applicable to other districts. Such zoning regulations shall be designed to secure safety from fire, flood, and other dangers and to promote the public health, safety, and general welfare and shall be made with consideration having been given to the character of the various parts of the area zoned and their peculiar suitability for particular uses and types of development and with a view to conserving property values and encouraging the most appropriate use of land throughout the area zoned, in accordance with a comprehensive plan. Such zoning regulations may include reasonable provisions regarding nonconforming uses and their gradual elimination.(2)(a) The city shall not adopt or enforce any zoning ordinance or regulation which prohibits the use of land for a proposed residential structure for the sole reason that the proposed structure is a manufactured home if such manufactured home bears an appropriate seal which indicates that it was constructed in accordance with the standards of the Uniform Standard Code for Manufactured Homes and Recreational Vehicles, the Nebraska Uniform Standards for Modular Housing Units Act, or the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. The city may require that a manufactured home be located and installed according to the same standards for foundation system, permanent utility connections, setback, and minimum square footage which would apply to a site-built, single-family dwelling on the same lot. The city may also require that manufactured homes meet the following standards:(i) The home shall have no less than nine hundred square feet of floor area;(ii) The home shall have no less than an eighteen-foot exterior width;(iii) The roof shall be pitched with a minimum vertical rise of two and one-half inches for each twelve inches of horizontal run;(iv) The exterior material shall be of a color, material, and scale comparable with those existing in residential site-built, single-family construction;(v) The home shall have a nonreflective roof material which is or simulates asphalt or wood shingles, tile, or rock; and(vi) The home shall have wheels, axles, transporting lights, and removable towing apparatus removed.(b) The city may not require additional standards unless such standards are uniformly applied to all single-family dwellings in the zoning district.(c) Nothing in this subsection shall be deemed to supersede any valid restrictive covenants of record.(3) For purposes of this section, manufactured home shall mean (a) a factory-built structure which is to be used as a place for human habitation, which is not constructed or equipped with a permanent hitch or other device allowing it to be moved other than to a permanent site, which does not have permanently attached to its body or frame any wheels or axles, and which bears a label certifying that it was built in compliance with National Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards, 24 C.F.R. 3280 et seq., promulgated by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, or (b) a modular housing unit as defined in section 71-1557 bearing a seal in accordance with the Nebraska Uniform Standards for Modular Housing Units Act. SourceLaws 1929, c. 49, § 2, p. 204; C.S.1929, § 15-1002; R.S.1943, § 15-902; Laws 1959, c. 40, § 3, p. 220; Laws 1963, c. 57, § 2, p. 239; Laws 1981, LB 298, § 2; Laws 1985, LB 313, § 2; Laws 1994, LB 511, § 2; Laws 1996, LB 1044, § 55; Laws 1998, LB 1073, § 2. Cross ReferencesNebraska Uniform Standards for Modular Housing Units Act, see section 71-1555.Uniform Standard Code for Manufactured Homes and Recreational Vehicles, see section 71-4601. AnnotationsA zoning ordinance, defining the term "family" as one or more persons related by blood, marriage, or adoption living in a single housekeeping unit but prohibiting more than two unrelated persons from living together, is a constitutional attempt to promote the public health, safety, and general welfare. State v. Champoux, 252 Neb. 769, 566 N.W.2d 763 (1997).Property lying within three miles of corporate limits may be zoned. Reller v. City of Lincoln, 174 Neb. 638, 119 N.W.2d 59 (1963).