[Vision2020] More on City Councilwoman JoAnn Mack's son, Dan

[Joan Opyr]

October 16, 2003
Moscow-Pullman Daily News

Moscow landowner has plans for new trailer park; Evictions will precede 
construction.
By Hillary Hamm
 
Dan Mack doesn’t want to be a “slumlord.” Mack said he bought 
Renaissance Park, a 15-space trailer park east of  Moscow in 2001 as an 
investment. He did not expect to pick up trash and maintain trailers 
that aren’t his. He wants to demolish the park and start from scratch. 
“This park is going to fall apart,” Mack said. “There’s a year or two 
years until this thing is really going to be a problem. Some of these 
trailers really aren’t worth anything.”

By next year, Mack said he expects to have 36 new two- and 
three-bedroom, single-wide homes in place. In order to begin 
construction, Mack must first clear the existing park by evicting all 
the tenants. “When and if this development happens, these trailers have 
to go, whether people are living in them or not,” he said. “Once we 
develop it, the lot they’re sitting on is going to be worth more than 
it is right now.”

Thirteen of the park’s trailers are owned by independent landlords, 
while the remaining two are owned by the people who live in them. As 
development furthers, landlords will have 120 days to move their 
trailers off the property. Latah County Deputy Prosecutor Robin Eckmann 
said Mack is within his rights to evict tenants. Mack has to provide 
tenants with a written 90-day notice that indicates he doesn’t want to 
renew the lease agreement. He also doesn’t have to provide a reason for 
eviction. “I’m not aware of any law violations based on my knowledge of 
this,” Eckmann said. “I’m not aware of any illegal conduct.”

A number of residents of the park recently sent letters to Latah County 
commissioners to voice their opposition to the future development. 
Residents of the park and owners of trailers declined to comment to the 
Daily News. Mack said he purchased the park with the best of 
intentions: to clean it up and provide a better living environment for 
tenants. “It’s an investment that I want to make. I think there’s a 
need for more family type housing out here,” he said. “What I’m trying 
to do will benefit everyone.”

But Mack said the project has been frustrating because the park is 
located in the area of city impact. The 10,818-acre impact area 
surrounds the city of Moscow and is designated for future city growth. 
The city and county have been in negotiations for the last six months 
regarding how the area is to be governed. City codes will be enforced 
in the area, said Moscow Assistant City Planner Bill Belknap.

Belknap said Mack went through the city process and his project has 
been recommended to the county for approval. The recommendation comes 
with some conditions. Mack must widen the internal roads of the park 
and provide a stormwater detention pond, Belknap said. “It went fairly 
well,” Belknap said of Mack’s discussions with the city. “It’s a pretty 
long process.”

Mack said he feels he is being given the run-around by the city and 
county on what he can and cannot do on his property. “I’m trying to 
meet two entities of governing that have two vehicles of governing that 
don’t mesh,” Mack said. “I’m caught between two different things right 
now.”

Mack had his first meeting with the  county Tuesday. Commissioners and 
county planning and building officials will review Mack’s request. Also 
on Tuesday, Mack approached commissioners about leasing a 1-acre parcel 
of county-owned land. Mack would like to lease the parcel for $1 to 
meet city code and to increase the aesthetics of the park. The parcel 
is adjacent to the park, on the corner of  Carmichael Road and the Troy 
Highway. Commissioners have not made a decision.

The land, Mack said, would meet his requirements for a trailer park 
recreation area and provide visitors to the Latah Trail a place to 
rest. Mack said he would invest nearly $60,000 into the project for 
grass, trees and maintenance of the parcel. “We want this to be a nice 
park,” he said. “No matter what happens, if this is developed it would 
be a benefit to my tenants.” Mack has begun to build a new pump station 
and replace water mains to increase the water potability on the 5-acre 
park. The project has cost him more than $20,000.
 
Mack said he intends to give both the landlords and residents ample 
warning to move out, but because of a stop and start work schedule, he 
can’t give them much more information. “We don’t have anything to tell 
them,” he said. “I would like to tell them (to leave) and get moving on 
this. They’re going to have to go sooner or later.”

Clearing the trailer park may not be easy. Under city code, trailers 
built before 1976 must meet certain window, wiring and plumbing 
requirements before being moved. Mack said many of the trailers in his 
park are old and may pose problems. “I really don’t feel it’s my 
responsibility to take care of these people after they chose to move 
there,” he said. “But I’m sure some of them will figure out that it 
would be cheaper to leave their trailer. And at what point do people 
feel sorry for the landlord who has to move all their junk?”

Regardless, Mack said he intends to go ahead with the development and 
finish the job. “We’re trying to fix these things, but we can’t do it 
with the trailers there,” he said. “Something has to be done one way or 
another, and I’d just as soon develop it than patch it up as it is. 
What we have now is a dilapidated park. I’m getting nickled and dimed 
out of this.”
 
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