The city of Argo may consider a change to their zoning ordinances after a resident sought to place an additional mobile home on her land.

Wanda Dean appeared before the board regarding the placement of a second mobile home on her three-acre plot of land as a result of the April 27 tornadoes. While the area is estimated to consist of 87 percent or more mobile or manufactured homes, the zoning ordinance only allows a mobile home to be placed in that area within six months of removing an existing one. Dean said the second mobile home has been removed from that area for quite some time.

After a heated debate during the meeting, it was discovered that a section of the zoning ordinance allows for temporary emergency relief including the installation of manufactured homes for up to one year.

However, the zoning board and council will now tackle a greater issue as to how mobile homes will be allowed to locate in the town of Argo.

Zoning Board Chairman Jim Link suggested that the city look into changing the zoning ordinance to allow mobile homes to be placed in areas that currently have a high concentration of them around town.

Most of the board considered the zoning an oversight in the zoning ordinance that could easily be corrected.

However, Councilman Steve Medori urged more consideration on the matter, as he considered it a fundamental change in the core of the zoning laws.

“I think there is a constituency of homeowners in Argo that are concerned about the property values of their homes. The long-term goal was to convert to non-mobile homes. If we start giving exceptions, where do we stop? To change something that affects the property values of every other resident in town, I’d oppose 100 percent. It’s a flip-flop vis-à-vis a long-established procedure concerning mobile homes in Argo,” he said. “I think it was goes in the direction we came from before we had zoning.”

“It was never zoned to zone out trailers,” Jennings responded.

“We’re not saying the zoning is perfect and we won’t change anything,” Councilman Herschel Phillips said.

In the near future, the zoning board is expected to call for a public hearing on the matter in order to discuss the issue with the community before coming to a conclusion on the issue.