TIFTON — The owners of mobile home park Ferry Lake Estates are looking to make improvements to their property, but need to make a few zoning adjustments to do so.

Jay Zhang, owner and manager of the mobile home park, submitted an application to the city Planning and Zoning Commission on Jan. 29 to request the removal of the planned unit overlay on his property, which is currently halting any modifications he or his tenants hope to make to the mobile homes.

Crystal Gaillard, city planning and zoning director, explained that the initial PDO, formed through an agreement Zhang had made with an external developer in 2009, had mandated that 38 detached units would have been built on the 6.963 parcel of land. Currently, the restrictions it had also placed on the property prevented Zhang from moving any more mobile homes onto the land, as well as prohibited him from improving the homes currently there by more than 50% of their base value.

Zhang stated that the developer had planned to fund the initial project through low-income housing tax grants, but failed to secure funding, with the development falling through shortly after that. He reported that the developer was supposed to have removed the PDO as a due diligence, but failed to do so for whatever reason.

He had not been aware of it still being in effect until this past year, when he began receiving calls from both tenants unable to renovate their mobile homes and new renters that he cannot provide new units to, despite having empty lots in the mobile home park. Zhang explained that removing the PDO would allow him and his tenants to make renovations and improvements again.

Gaillard asserted that the rezoning would not adversely impact the adjacent or nearby properties, but provided the commission with recommended conditions upon the rezoning to mitigate future adverse developments.

These conditions included mandated frontage onto the park’s access road, a prominently displayed placard of information on the side facing the access road of every mobile home, and a 20-foot distance requirement between any new mobile homes brought onto the property.

Gaillard explained the the final condition was mostly for safety reasons, as it would allow public safety personnel to more easily access the park and would lessen the risk of fire spreading through the property.

The planning and zoning commission voted unanimously to recommend approval to the city council, who will discuss Zhang’s request at their upcoming meeting Feb. 5.