A D V E R T I S E M E N T
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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It’s no secret Oregon has a serious lack of affordable housing, but it’ll be much worse if we don’t do something about the crisis confronting mobile home parks. Sixty-five parks shut down since 1990, around half in the past two years. A total of 2,500 spaces were lost. The Legislature should provide relief to residents who’ve had their lives turned upside down by a park closure.
The clock is ticking. In February residents in Wilsonville’s Thunderbird Mobile Club received a closure notice – another 270 spaces gone. One hundred and forty spaces at Saddle Butte Mobile Manor near Roseburg are also at risk. These are among many communities experiencing growing pains due to rising land values.
We are working with a coalition of mobile home tenants, park owners and housing advocates on a package of legislation to assist these displaced park residents. House Bill 2735 calls for shared responsibility.
Part of the responsibility falls on the landlord to pay up to $9,000 per home for tenant relocation. The state provides an enhanced $10,000 tax credit. Cities freeze the property value of the land and can no longer adopt local laws on park closures. Mobile home owners still bear much of the costs.
This proposal addresses short-term symptoms to a long-term ailment. The cure involves empowering mobile home owners so they can purchase these parks, and efforts are under way to do just that. Park purchases take a lot of time and money. Only two such deals have occurred in the past decade in Oregon. The cure also involves changing our land-use system to map out a long-range strategy for affordable housing.
In the immediate future, we must help the people impacted by park closures. A majority are low-income seniors. For some, the next move is a nursing home. The stories are heartbreaking. Their life savings went into this house. The home is too old to be moved. The nearest vacancy is 100 miles away. These residents don’t just occupy a space for rent. They invested in landscaping, carports and the community they call home.
Park owners also deserve respect. Decades ago when cities needed land for affordable housing, mobile home parks were a handy option. Skyrocketing land values now pressure those landowners to sell. For example, Thunderbird was there before Wilsonville was a city. It’s tempting to force landlords to cash out the tenants when a park closes, but property rights and fairness issues should also be considered.
A handful of cities have adopted their own laws regarding park closures. These local ordinances face expensive court challenges. We think a statewide solution is preferable.
Your help is needed to make this new legislative package successful. Please talk to your friends and family around the state. Urge them to contact their legislators and support House Bill 2735. If you truly care about maintaining affordable housing in Oregon like we do, then please join us in this effort.
Mark, I differ with your theory. I believe that these areas's residents and homeowners where parks have been in existence 20 years of more are victims of urban sprawl, brought to you by selfish realtors, builders, growth mongers who see balance as a check book issue, not community sustainability issue. The closest this region got to seriously question the craziness of sprawl and unsustainable growth was during the Mt. Hood Freeway debates. Unfortunately, the city of Portland and Multnomah county were not joined by Clark, Clackamas, Washington, Yamhill and Marion counties. They felt the "market" knew what's best. The whole UGB exercise has not stopped growth, nor has it stimulated unusual growth (under the theory of stalling growth pressures and social engineering).
If you think Portland is a terrible place to live and all the MHP residents' misfortunes are the result of social engineering, I encourage to you to see REAL social engineering in places like California, Texas, the east coast where the only funding is engineered into highway construction and public investment is being piped to the hinterlands of low density sprawl where the coyotes and jack rabbits are now eating the resident's gardens.
I do feel that despite a MHP home owner's knowledge that they are living virtually on a piece of property with a month to month rent uncertainty, these people have invested what little they could afford and now regret their falling in love with a lifestyle (many living in the same home over 20 years). They deserve some sort of compromise solution. They have kept the MHP owner's income flowing in a steady, on-time payment stream. They deserve a little more respect and understanding than just "sorry, its just business", as a response from the development and investment community. In fact, some developers have struck compromise and have shown they understand the unique land use situation.
Many of these homes are not worth saving or moving. Yet they do provide a rather comfortable roof over many people's heads who can't afford much more. I don't see redevelopment agencies coming in an giving these homeowners a "deal" they couldn't ignore. Too many shrew developers are getting rich on public assets. Its time for a little money flowing the other way. If the developer is too greedy to share their profit margins, then the state and city/county should help out. Give the residents up to half their resale value or a certain ceiling (the cost of getting the thing off the owner's property and properly disposing of it, with a little money to help folks move and have money for 1st and last month's rent and a furnishings allowance.
(email verified)
Thu, Apr 12, 2007 at 10:45 AM
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Re: Lawmakers urge help for mobile home residents
This is social engering by the UGB crowd. These issues that the lower and fixed income individules have to deal with are criminal, but the are not "caused" by developers, they are caused by artificial arbitrary lines, drawn by politicians. These issues rarly happen outside a UBG in Oregon. Think about it!
"Mark"
(email verified)
Sat, Apr 07, 2007 at 06:59 PM