Ashland moves to protect mobile home parks, allow tiny homes

Ashland is laying the groundwork for a new Manufactured Home Park Zone that could do two things at once: protect some of the city’s most affordable housing and create a clearer path for tiny homes inside existing park communities. The Planning Commission moved the proposal forward last week as part of a broader effort tied to the city’s Housing Production Strategy.

The clearest example is Wingspread Mobile Home Park, a 116-unit community off lower Clay Street. Ashland has only three manufactured home parks, and city officials are treating them as part of the city’s long-term housing stock, not as land waiting to be converted. The Normal Neighborhood Plan already shows how embedded Wingspread is in the urban fabric, with the east boundary of the study area abutting the park, Creek Drive and Clay Street.

The proposal would create new zoning standards for manufactured home parks and update several sections of the Ashland Municipal Code, including AMC 18.2.2.030, 18.2.3.170, 18.2.3.180, AMC 18.3.9 and AMC 18.6.1.030. It also would add a new chapter establishing Manufactured Home Park zone provisions and rezone existing manufactured home parks into the new district. City materials say the goal is to preserve existing manufactured home communities, support long-term housing stability and give these neighborhoods standards tailored to their character.

For tiny home advocates, the important part is not the zoning label itself but what it would allow inside a park that is already built out. Under the proposed rules, parks could gain more flexibility to expand units, add tiny homes and bring in small neighborhood-serving commercial uses, while still keeping the overall feel of the neighborhoods intact. That is a concrete shift from today’s patchwork, where parks sit in several residential and commercial zones and face more pressure to be redeveloped or converted.

The city’s Housing Production Strategy, adopted in 2023, identified preserving and supporting existing manufactured home parks as a key housing priority. Ashland also received a technical-assistance grant from the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development to help fund the ordinance. The proposal is designed to align with state requirements, including HB 4064, ORS 197.478 and ORS 446, while facilitating housing production, affordability and choice.

The approval pipeline is still moving. Ashland opened a community survey on May 8 and will accept input through May 31, with a public hearing scheduled later in the month. Commissioners also discussed tenant protections, including a proposed 120-day window that would give residents time to organize a purchase offer if a park goes up for sale. For now, the city is not just talking about density. It is trying to build a path where tiny homes can be added without losing the park communities that already hold the ground.