The New Iberia City Council moved forward on tightening up regulations for mobile home parks within the city limits in an ordinance that will come back for final adoption in the near future. 

Mayor Freddie DeCourt introduced an ordinance that would deal with mobile home parks after the city received many inquiries about developers coming into the city. The city allows for mobile home parks specifically, and DeCourt said the new ordinance will allow for “a better product” if they do come to New Iberia. 

“Looking at the codes for the park section, we thought we could do better,” DeCourt said. “If we do this, it would make a better product.”

Some of the regulations include asphalt and concrete for the roads and driveways of the mobile home park. The mayor said limestone has been used in previous parks, and if left unattended leads to a muddy appearance. 

Adding green space to a small portion of the parks to make them more communal was also discussed as well as several other points. 

The mayor said that with the large amount of demolition projects of blighted properties the city has engaged in over the past few years, the possibility could arise for someone to buy up those empty properties in order to create a mobile home park. 

“As we continue (with demolitions), we’re going to end up with more pieces of property sitting there,” DeCourt said. “We are going to end up with blank land and people might come in, this was the reason to say that we wanted to make a better product for the future.”

Councilman David Merrill asked if current mobile homes could receive the regulations as well. Merrill said there are many mobile homes in his district that are in a state of disrepair. DeCourt said the current laws on the books could address that if a complaint was filed, however. 

The ordinance was approved with several notes and amendments that the mayor said will be assimilated into the ordinance that comes to the council for adoption at a future date.