Private Acts of 1973 Chapter 78

SECTION 1. That Shelby County, Tennessee, is hereby authorized to adopt a sanitary code for trailers, trailer courts, and trailer parks.

SECTION 2. The Shelby County Quarterly Court is authorized to provide for the enforcement and inspections of this code by the Memphis and Shelby County Health Department.

SECTION 3. The Shelby County Quarterly Court is authorized to amend or expand the sanitary code for trailers, trailer courts and trailer parks at any regular session.

SECTION 4. For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply: Service building. A building maintained by trailer court management to provide toilet facilities for male and female, laundry facilities, and to provide shower facilities for use by occupants of trailers without such facilities.

Trailer or trailer coach. Any vehicle used, or so constructed as to permit its being used, as a conveyance upon the public streets or highways and duly licensable as such, and constructed in such a manner as will permit occupancy thereof as a dwelling or sleeping place for one (1) or more persons, provided that this definition shall not include transport trucks or vans equipped with sleeping space for a driver or drivers.

Trailer court. Any plot of ground within the county upon which two (2) or more trailer coaches, occupied for dwelling or sleeping purposes are located, and has been designated as a trailer court by the Memphis and Shelby County Health Department.

SECTION 5. Immediately upon arrival within the county limits, the owner and occupants of any trailer shall be subject to all the laws, ordinances, rules and regulations of the county and any violation thereof shall constitute a misdemeanor.

SECTION 6. The parking or storage of trailer coaches shall not be permitted on any premises within the county not operating as a trailer court under a valid permit. This section shall not apply to the owner of such vehicle if he is bona fide resident of the county and possesses sufficient space on his premises to park or store the unoccupied trailer coach; and if such parking or storage is approved in writing by the health department and is not in violation of any county ordinance.

SECTION 7. The Health Department is hereby empowered to formulate from time to time and to enforce any rules and regulations that such department may deem advisable governing the operation of trailers and trailer courts, bearing on any matters of sanitation or housing.

SECTION 8. Any person who violates the provisions of this chapter or the rules and regulations adopted pursuant thereto, or fails to perform the reasonable requirements of the health department or health officer after receipt of written notice of such requirements shall be fined not less than five dollars ($5.00) and not more than fifty dollars ($50.00) for each offense and each day of continued violation after conviction shall constitute a separate offense.

SECTION 9. No trailer court shall be established or maintained by any person within the county without a valid current permit from the Health Department issued in the name of the current manager/or owner. The department is authorized to issue and to suspend or revoke permits upon written notice for reasonable cause to secure abatement of unsanitary conditions and compliance with health rules and regulations. Before a permit is issued an annual permit fee shall be paid to the Memphis and Shelby County Health Department. Said fee shall be based on the number of spaces available in the trailer court, whether or not there is a trailer located on each space. The fee shall be two dollars ($2.00) for each space and the permit shall designate the number of spaces approved; provided that the minimum fee shall be twenty-five dollars ($25.00) and the maximum fee shall be two hundred dollars ($200.00). This fee shall be due on July of each fiscal year and will be for twelve (12) month period. It must be paid by July 31 or a permit will not be issued.

SECTION 10. The Health Department is hereby authorized and directed to make inspections of trailer courts and trailers; and to enter at reasonable times upon the trailer court property to investigate compliance with health rules and regulations.

SECTION 11. The active manager or owner of a trailer court shall be capable and responsible for the proper sanitation of the premises and shall provide full time competent employees to maintain and operate the establishment in a satisfactory condition at all times.

SECTION 12. The owner or occupant of a trailer shall promptly register with the owner or manager of the trailer court when the vehicle is parked therein. The owner shall enter upon such register his date of arrival, name in full and the individual names of the persons in his party, license number of the vehicle and the state in which such vehicle was licensed, and the last permanent address of the owner of such vehicle and, upon leaving, he shall enter the date of his departure.

SECTION 13. Each trailer court that accepts a dependent trailer coach for parking shall be provided with one or more service buildings.

SECTION 14. An accessible, adequate, safe and potable supply of water shall be provided to each trailer space, capable of furnishing a minimum of one hundred twenty-five (125) gallons per day per trailer coach space. Where a public supply of water of such quality is available, connection shall be made thereto and its supply shall be used exclusively. The development of an independent water supply to serve the trailer court shall be made only after express approval has been granted by the health department.

SECTION 15. Trailer courts shall be served by a public sewer system if available, or by a private disposal system which has the approval of the health department, each trailer coach space shall be provided with an approved, rigid, airtight sewer connection. All sewage disposal apparatus, including appurtenances thereto, shall be provided, maintained, and operated so as not to create a nuisance or health hazard.

SECTION 16. All refuse shall be stored in standard metal containers, constructed of noncorrosive materials, equipped with tight-fitting lids and with handles. Such containers shall have a capacity of not less than 20 gallons nor more than 30 gallons, except that the maximum size limitation shall not apply where facilities are available for handling containers mechanically. Each trailer coach shall be provided with a sufficient number of containers of adequate capacity to prevent overflow. The containers shall be stored above the ground level and so fastened or supported as not to be easily overturned. Centralized refuse storage facilities may be utilized provided that the maximum distance from any trailer coach served does not exceed 150 feet. Garbage and refuse shall be collected and/or disposed of in a manner and at intervals approved by the Health Department.

SECTION 17. Insect and rodent control measures to safeguard public health, as recommended by the commissioner or health officer, shall be applied in the trailer court. The trailer court shall be kept free of rubbish, and shall be maintained in a satisfactory condition at all times. All harborage places for rodents or hosts of insect vectors shall be eliminated. All breeding places for flies and mosquitoes shall be eliminated or effectively treated.

SECTION 18. Trailer coach spaces in trailer courts shall be clearly defined and coaches parked so that there will be at least fifteen (15) feet of clear space between coaches or any attachment such as a garage or porch; fifteen (15) feet between coaches and any building or structure; at least five (5) feet between any coach and trailer court property line. No trailer coach shall be located closer than fifteen (15) feet to any public street or highway.

The individual plot sizes for trailer coach spaces shall be determined as follows:

(1) Minimum width shall be equal to the width of the trailer plus twenty (20) feet.

(2) Minimum depth with end parking of automobile shall be equal to the length of the trailer plus thirty (30) feet.

(3) Minimum depth with side or street parking shall be equal to the length of the trailer plus twenty (20) feet.

In no case shall the minimum width be less than twenty-eight feet and the minimum depth less than fifty-five (55) feet and such spaces shall be used only for parking trailer coaches no larger than eight (8) feet wide and thirty-five (35) feet long.

SECTION 19. It shall be the duty of the owner or manager of a trailer court to promptly report to the Health Department all cases of suspected cases of communicable disease occurring within the court.

SECTION 20. Trailers may be occupied as living quarters, other than in designated trailer courts, if approval from the Shelby County Board of Adjustment is secured and the water supply and sewage disposal system and satisfactory sanitary fixtures are provided; as required by the Memphis and Shelby County Health Department.

SECTION 21. Any person violating any of the provisions of this code or failing, neglecting, or refusing to comply with any regulations of the department promulgated pursuant to the provisions of this code, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be liable to a fine of not less than ten dollars ($10.00), nor more than one hundred dollars ($100.00) for each offense. Each day of continued violation after conviction shall constitute a separate offense, and may be prosecuted in accordance with Section 53-303 Tennessee Code Annotated.

SECTION 22. If any part or parts of this Act shall be declared unconstitutional it shall not affect the validity of any other part of this Act.

SECTION 23. All laws and parts of laws in conflict with the provisions of this Act, be and they are hereby repealed.

SECTION 24. This Act shall have no effect unless approved by a two-thirds (⅔) vote of the Quarterly County Court of any County to which this act may apply not more than one hundred twenty (120) days subsequent to its approval by the Chief Executive of this state or after its otherwise effective date. Its approval or non-approval shall be proclaimed by the presiding officer of the Quarterly County Court and shall be certified by him to the secretary of state.

SECTION 25. This Act shall be effective from and after its passage, the public welfare requiring it, but the provisions thereof shall not become operative until validated as provided in Section 24 herein and as otherwise provided in this Act.

Passed: April 23, 1973.