The Rapides Area Planning Commission won’t issue permits for house trailers once used by the Federal Emergency Management Agency until legal issues are worked out.
ALEXANDRIA, La. (AP) — The Rapides Area Planning Commission won’t issue permits for house trailers once used by the Federal Emergency Management Agency until legal issues are worked out. Tens of thousands are being sold at auction nationwide. The commission’s chief building official, Lee Lemoine, tells The Town Talk that some have been put on property in Wardville. Commissioners want to craft an ordinance making it illegal to use them for permanent housing. Woodworth Mayor David Butler, who’s chairman of the commission, says they never were meant for permanent housing. The federal government decided this year to sell most of the 120,000 trailers it bought to house Hurricane Katrina evacuees. Most were bought by big auction companies, which then sold smaller lots to smaller operations. Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.