VILLA PARK : Initial OK Given Rules for 2nd Homes on Lots

Second dwellings on residential lots will soon have to meet strict guidelines, and mobile homes will not qualify.

The City Council this week gave tentative approval to an ordinance that would govern so-called second-residential buildings--small houses that state law allows homeowners to build in their back yards or on other parts of their residential lots.

The state statute was enacted to ease a shortage of affordable housing. The prospect of such dwellings caused concern in this affluent community, however. The City Council and staff said they feared that careless construction would ruin property values.

City Manager Fred Maley, who urged the council to limit second dwellings, expressed concern last month that mobile homes would be allowed in back yards but has since learned, he said Tuesday, that they can be excluded.

“Our ordinance does not allow mobile homes” as second dwellings, Maley said. The new ordinance would require that homeowners secure a conditional use permit from the City Council for second residences.

The ordinance also states that “the second dwelling unit shall be solely occupied by not more than two persons” and that it “shall not be sold or owned separately from the principal dwelling unit.”

The city’s new law would allow second dwellings to be rented or leased.

The ordinance is slated for