Cox v. City of Sasser

In 1990, David and Marian Cox placed a mobile home on their property located in the City of Sasser so that Marian Cox’s parents could reside there. Marian Cox’s parents resided there until their deaths in 1994 and 1995. David Cox took ownership of the mobile home in 1995. In April of 2006, he decided to replace the mobile home with another home. It is undisputed that pursuant to a City of Sasser zoning ordinance, as amended in 2002, the defendants’ property is located within the R-1 single family residential home district. This district permits “single family detached dwellings including modular homes, except mobile homes.”1 The ordinance defines “mobile home” synonymously with “manufactured home”: a detached single family dwelling unit, designed for long-term occupancy, which has been prefabricated and then transported to its site or to a sales lot usually on its own wheels and requires only minor work before occupancy such as connection to utilities or to a foundation. A “modular home,” on the other hand, is defined as:

a factory-fabricated single family dwelling which is constructed in one or more sections. These units are manufactured in accordance with the Georgia Industrialized Building Act and the rules of the Department of Community Affairs issued pursuant thereof. Each unit must bear a seal of approval by the Commission of DCA. David Cox knew a mobile home would not be permitted on his property.