North Carolina’s General Assembly gave substantial attention yesterday to a bill that would impact the fates of manufactured housing residents.

H1700, a bill sponsored by Susan Fisher that would provide a financial incentive to park owners to sell to resident or non-profit groups, made some progress in Judiciary II.  The bill was held up by its notice provision, which had stipulated that park owners should communicate in writing via US mail to each resident prior to a sale.

According to one MH industry leader, this triggers some concerns over property rights.

An alternative was put forward that only requires notice in the event of a change in use.  In other words, no notice is required if a park is sold to another private group that wants to maintain the park as is.  If a park owner wants to sell to a big box retailer, though, then a notice is required.

Advocates and industry express doubts about the difference that this would ultimately make — after all, no resident group is going to be able to match the kind of offer that a Wal-Mart of Home Depot could make for land that it would repurpose into a large commercial center.

No, a useful bill should probably preserve the notice provision for parks for exactly the opposite set of parks — those that are likely to remain in their current status.  These are the ones whose prices can reasonably be met by non-profits.  In North Carolina, that might be parks up to $2 million.

The crisis that may befall the 160 residents at Homestead Village Mobile Home Park in North Raleigh does not have to be a regular problem.  Solutions exist in many states to address this very problem.  North Carolina ought to think about what it can do, because safeguards can be applied to protect our citizenry living in mobile home parks.

To review, the residents at Homestead Village will be kicked out of their homes in the near future if the City of Raleigh goes ahead with a proposal to rezone the 38.5 acres in their park to mixed use commercial.  Such a rezoning is the request of a buyer for the land who would presumably build shops, offices, and mixed use on the site.  It is located on a sought after part of land near Capital Boulevard in North Raleigh.

Rep. Susan Fisher (D-Asheville) introduced a bill last session (H1700) that would (more…)