Park owner evicts families

County and state officials say the closing of two trailer parks and eviction a hundred or more families is the decision of the park owner.

The two parks, Oakview and Hillview, have had repeated problems with septic tanks and water supply.

This week, several people contacted the Rowan County Planning office, mistakenly believing the county had ordered the closing of Oakview Trailer Court, 5870 Wildwood Road, and Hillview Trailer Court, at 1880 Old Union Church Road.

Both parks are owned by Raymond A. Everhardt of Linwood. He posted eviction notices on units in both parks this past week, leaving more than a hundred families, primarily Hispanic, homeless.

Some of the notices specified residents must be out by October, causing near-panic among residents, fearing they would have to be out by Monday.

Some of the eviction notices had a copy of a letter from the county planning office attached. The letter dated April 16, dealt with 14 unoccupied mobile homes in the Oakview park.

The letter served to notify Everhardt of a new county ordinance dealing with abandoned homes and asked him to remove the units. Everhardt complied several weeks ago.

County Planner Marion Lytle said the letter had nothing to do with the eviction notices.

He also pointed out that Hillview on Old Union Church Road is not in the county’s planning jurisdiction.

An official with the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources met with Everhardt and county health officials to discuss remedies for the ongoing problems at the park.

Britt Setzer of the Division of of Water Quality, said that fixing the problems would be expensive.

On Sept. 24, Setzer received a letter from Everhardt indicating he planned to close the parks and evict all residents.

“I guess he saw the writing on the wall. There are too many issues. It would be cost prohibitive,”said Setzer, adding that the state was willing to work with him to bring the parks into compliance. “That’s his decision. We did not tell him that he had to do this.”

Tadd Helmstetler, who works in the county environmental health section, said both parks have serious problems dealing with sewage disposal.

In some instances, systems were failing and the soil would not sustain a new system.

“We made it very clear to him during the meeting that we wanted to work with him to fix the problems,” said Helmstetler.

County planners have put together a list of mobile home parks in the county and supplied it to various agencies trying to help residents find new homes.

Contact Jessie Burchette at 704-797-4254 or jburchette@salisburypost.com .