Abandoned Mobile Homes Discussed in NCGA

In the last days of this year’s short session, the problem of abandoned mobile homes has been the subject of an active discussion in the NCGA.

Philip Haire, a House member from Haywood County and chair of the Appropriations Committee, has again advanced his bill (H1134) to provide a means for governments to clean up their abandoned mobile homes. This is the fourth year that some iteration of the bill has existed.

This year’s version provides counties with up to $1000 in cost refunds for every home that they can clear. In Tier One Counties, agencies can apply for 50 percent of costs beyond $1000. Counties must have a plan for their disposal.

On Tuesday, the bill was discussed in the Environment committee.

In years past, a sticking point for this bill was the cost associated with funding the cleanup. It comes from a $300 per unit recovery charge on the sale of new or used homes. For doublewides, the cost is $600. This was not so much the focus of this year’s debate. Instead, counties wanted assurances that the program would remain voluntary. The industry remains opposed, in part on the principle that they do not believe that their products are disposable.

I visited with code enforcement officers in the Lumber River area on Tuesday. This group wants a solution to abandoned homes. They drive by abandoned homes to get to work, they see them as an obstacle to tourism and economic development, and they link the empty buildings with crime. Its a strongly felt problem.

Actually, the room had a few more people than just code enforcement.  There was a fair share of planners, community development non-profit types, and a few city managers.  What was interesting was the degree to which dealing with abandoned homes superseded any interest in innovations to redevelop parks.  ‘Fix the problem out back’, they seemed to be saying, ‘before we try any experiments with co-ops and land trusts.’