54:4-1.4 - Definitions

54:4-1.4.  Definitions
    As used in this act:

    a.   "Commissioner"  means the Commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs;

    b.   "Cooperative"  means a housing corporation or association which entitles the holder of a share or membership interest thereof to possess and occupy for dwelling purposes a house, apartment, manufactured home or other unit of housing owned by the corporation or association, or to purchase a unit of housing constructed or erected by the corporation or association;

    c.   "Grade"  means a reference plane consisting of the average finished ground level adjacent to a structure, building, or facility at all visible exterior walls;

    d.   "Manufactured home"  means a unit of housing which:

     (1) Consists of one or more transportable sections which are substantially constructed off site and, if more than one section, are joined together on site;

    (2) Is built on a permanent chassis;

     (3) Is designed to be used, when connected to utilities, as a dwelling on a  permanent or nonpermanent foundation;  and

     (4) Is manufactured in accordance with the standards promulgated for a manufactured home by the secretary pursuant to the  "National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974,"  Pub.L. 93-383 (42 U.S.C. s. 5401 et seq.) and the standards promulgated for a manufactured or mobile home by the commissioner pursuant to the  "State Uniform Construction Code Act,"  P.L.1975, c. 217 (C. 52:27D-119 et seq.);

     "Manufactured home"  also means and includes any unit of housing manufactured before the effective date of the standards promulgated by the secretary or, as appropriate, by the commissioner, but which otherwise meets the criteria set forth in this subsection;

    e.   "Mobile home park"  means a parcel of land, or two or more contiguous parcels of land, containing no fewer than 10 sites equipped for the installation of manufactured homes, where these sites are under common ownership and control, other than as a cooperative, for the purpose of leasing each site to the owner of a manufactured home for the installation thereof, and  where the owner or owners provide services, which are provided by the municipality in which the park is located for property owners outside the park,  which services may include but shall not be limited to:

    (1) The construction and maintenance of streets;

     (2) Lighting of streets and other common areas;

     (3) Garbage removal;

     (4) Snow removal;  and

     (5) Provisions for the drainage of surface water from home sites and common  areas.

     A parcel, or any contiguous parcels, of land which contain, on the effective  date of this act, no fewer than three sites equipped for the installation of  manufactured homes, and which otherwise conform to the provisions of this  subsection, shall qualify as a mobile home park for the purposes of this act;

     f.   "Municipal service fee"  means a fee imposed on manufactured homes installed in a mobile home park for the purpose of reasonable payment for services rendered the owners of the manufactured homes by the municipality or any other local taxing authority established pursuant to an ordinance of the municipal governing body, and for the reimbursement of the municipality for payments made thereby to the school district in which the mobile home park is located for educational costs occasioned by pupils residing in that park;

    g.   "Nonpermanent foundation"  means any foundation consisting of nonmortared blocks, wheels, a concrete slab, runners, or any combination thereof, or any other system approved by the commissioner for the installation and anchorage of a manufactured home on other than a permanent foundation;

    h.   "Off site construction of a manufactured home or section thereof" means the construction of that home or section at a location other than the location at which the home is to be installed;

    i.   "On site joining of sections of a manufactured home"  means the joining  of those sections at the location at which the home is to be installed;

    j.   "Permanent foundation"  means a system of support installed either partially or entirely below grade, which is:

    (1) Capable of transferring all design loads imposed by or upon the structure into soil or bedrock without failure;

    (2) Placed at an adequate depth below grade to prevent frost damage; and

     (3) Constructed of any material approved by the commissioner;

     k.   "Runners"  means a system of support consisting of poured concrete strips running the length of the chassis of a manufactured home under the lengthwise walls of that home;

       l.     "Secretary"  means the Secretary of the United States Department of  Housing and Urban Development;  and

     m.   "Trailer"  means a recreational vehicle, travel trailer, camper or other transportable, temporary dwelling unit, with or without its own motor power, designed and constructed for travel and recreational purposes to be installed on a nonpermanent foundation if installation is required.

     L.1983, c. 400, s. 3, eff. Dec. 22, 1983.