An outcry from mobile home park owners has sent a proposed new ordinance back to the drawing board.
More than a dozen speakers challenged proposed appearance and design standards during a public hearing Monday evening before the Rowan County Planning Board.
Some owners said the ordinance will force mobile home parks out of business.
After nearly two hours of discussion, they convinced the board that there are problems with the requirement for park roads.
As proposed, all county parks would have to have 18-foot-wide graveled roads with a six-inch base.
Several park owners who have been in business for 20 or 30 years, said they have paved roads now, 13 to 16 feet wide.
“This 18-foot thing is a joke,” said board member Terry Hill. “It’s totally out of reason.”
Board member Joe Teeter said the ordinance would require people to tear up perfectly good paved roads and replace them with gravel.
“That would be ridiculous,” responded Vice Chairman William Yow.
Chairman John Linker agreed, saying the proposed ordinance didn’t consider the existing roads.
Linker and County Planner Marion Lytle said the 18-foot road is the N.C. Department of Transportation standard.
That width is required to allow easy access for emergency vehicles, including fire trucks.
The panel’s discussion came after park owners picked apart some sections of the proposed ordinance.
A motion by Teeter to delete the roadway section from the ordinance failed. It garnered only two supporting votes, those of Hill and Greg Childs.
All park owners agreed something needs to be done to clean up some very messy parks in the county.
None of the speakers found fault with requirements about signs, trash pick up, clearly displayed addresses.
“I applaud you for trying to deal with this. Some park owners are giving us a bad name,” said Tim Smith, owner of a park on Airport Road with 110 units.
He added that tenants of those parks have no leverage to get improvements.
Smith said he started in the park business in 1963, when he was a 5-year-old, helping his father install water lines.
He contended that roads were installed to DOT standards for graveled roads at the time.
He wondered aloud if the new ordinance is adopted, will another board decide to change the standards in five or 10 years.
“You’re going to put us out of business” said David Wood, one of the major park owners in the county.
Referring to the proposed standards for roads, Wood charged that many of state roads don’t meet the new DOT road standards.
Wood, Smith and others cited the need for affordable housing, and urged the panel to take that into consideration.
At least one park owner said no new ordinance is needed.
“This won’t solve any problems. The main reason we are here is Roseman Road,” said Jack Phillips of Dunns Mountain Road. He contended that most parks in the county are well kept.
“How many parks have you been in?” Phillips said directing his question to the Planning Board.
Nellie Corriher was one of several speakers concerned over small parks that have been in place for years.
Her 10-unit park is off N.C. 150.
Corriher said the road isn’t 18 feet, but it’s been there for 75 years and there’s never been a problem. She added that it would cause major problems and expense to widen the road.
Dan Dugane brought pictures to show how well kept his park is with its 13-foot paved roads. He estimated it would cost $70,000 to redo the roads for this 18-unit park.
He wondered aloud what would happen if the state should mandate that all houses would have to be brought up to code before they can be sold.
Another speaker, Randy Goodman, questioned the fairness of targeting mobile home parks and not housing in general. Admitting there are some parks that are a health hazard, he pointed out that there are some houses that are degrading to mobile home parks.
Susan Allen, a resident of the Roseman Road area, suggested the ordinance doesn’t go far enough. A frequent critic of the Roseman Road Mobile Home Park, she has repeatedly called for the county to act.
“You look at us (as if to say) go buzz off,” said Allen. “I’m not going away. I expect something from you.”
She said that if the city could regulate couches on front porches, the county should deal with mobile home parks.
Several park owners asked to be notified when the committee meets to consider the ordinance. A date has not be set.
Contact Jessie Burchette at 704-797-4254 or jburchette@salisburypost.com
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