County weighs freeze on mobile home parks
Published 11:03 pm Wednesday, March 19, 2008
EVERETT — The push and pull between mobile home park owners and their tenants moves to the Snohomish County Council next week in a vote to ban redevelopment of parks for at least three months.
The goal is to call a time out to find a way for thousands of people to keep their mobile homes while also allowing hundreds of mobile home park owners to make a profit on their properties.
Mobile home park owners are organizing a protest because they don’t want the county trampling their property rights, said Ken Spencer, executive director of the Manufactured Housing Communities of Washington.
“They don’t feel Snohomish County should be able to interfere,” Spencer said.
The proposal is being pushed by County Councilman Brian Sullivan, who made mobile home park conversions a focus of his six years in the state Legislature.
“There is an emergency to get policies debated and out before any more sales or conversions occur,” Sullivan said.
If the ban is approved, the county would turn away applications to change the land-use rules on a mobile home park properties for three months. A ban wouldn’t prevent the sale of mobile home parks, Sullivan said.
Still, property values would be affected.
The ban would buy the county time to aggressively pursue a long list of policy changes to help the residents of mobile home parks stay where they are, or have help relocating, Sullivan said. He also wants to consider giving tax breaks to park owners who sell to current residents instead of redeveloping.
Residents of Mariner Village mobile home park said they were buoyed to see the council take up the debate and are eager to have a moratorium.
Their park is set to close Aug. 31 and residents who lease space under their mobile homes are working with park owners to try to buy the park.
“A moratorium gives a chance for a serious study of what regulations need to be addressed,” said Dick Balser, a resident of Mariner Village who lobbied for a moratorium.
Mariner Village is a seniors-only mobile home park in south Everett. About 260 people live in the 165-unit park at 815 124th St. SW.
The County Council approved a lengthy resolution on Wednesday that set the table for the proposed ban and coming debates over the mobile home park issues.
The council outlined 17 ideas for changing county policies to help mobile home residents who are displaced or might be displaced when a mobile home park owner wants to redevelop their property.
In all, there are more than 100 mobile home parks in the county and are often home to seniors or low-income people. Many parks have closed in recent years, and the rate is increasing.
“I do believe we have a crisis,” County Council chairman Dave Somers said. “With continued growth in Snohomish County, the pressure on these parks is tremendous.”
Ideas to help residents avoid losing a place for their mobile homes include making mobile home park owners pay a fee when they redevelop their property. The money would go to relocate residents or build a new mobile home park elsewhere.
Another idea would be to open up other parts of the county for construction of new mobile home parks.
County officials need to prove they have the political will to tackle the topic, and the three-month window will provide the deadline, Sullivan said.
“Because of the short time frame, this really puts pressure on us as policy makers to get to the problem and try to solve these issues,” Sullivan said.
Reporter Jeff Switzer: 425-339-3452 or jswitzer@heraldnet.com.
Facing closure
Mobile home parks in Snohomish County slated to close in 2008:
Manor Heights, Lynnwood, April 30, 43 spaces
Mariner Village, Everett, Aug. 31, 165 spaces
Penny Lane, Snohomish, Sept. 13, 22 spaces
By the numbers
Statistics on mobile home parks in Washington:
51: Mobile home parks closed or set to close from 2006-08
1,987: Households displaced from those parks
13.6: Average annual park closures from 2003-07
5.8: Average annual park closures from 1989-2002
1,000: Remaining parks located in urban growth areas
Source: Washington State Department of Community, Trade &Economic Development
