[Vision2020] More on City Councilwoman JoAnn Mack's son, Dan
Tom Ivie
the_ivies3 at yahoo.com
Fri Dec 9 09:27:22 PST 2005
One person's junk is another person's home. It would be interesting to see how many of the tenants are single mothers or low income retired. That being said, it is well within his rights as a property owner to do what he wants to his property. It also would be interesting to see how many of the "independent landlords" will give adequate notice to their tenants. You see, technically, Mr. Mack only has to give eviction notice to the owner of the trailers. It will be up to those owners to give notice to their tenants. Hopefully they read the newspaper and see the writing on the wall so they can prepare for it.
I feel bad for the two owners that actually live in their trailers but not for the slumlords that are "individual landlords." There certainly will be no trailer park willing to take their trailers because they are too old. But this certainly poses a problem for Mr. Mack too. The owners are forced to abandon the trailers because there is no where to move them to and even if there was, they would be required to purchase new windows that would cost more than the trailer is even worth. So what does Mr. Mack do with them? He will have to pay someone to come in and haul them away. Then he will likely have to pay someone to take them off of his hands as well. There aren't any trailer junk yards like we have for cars.
As I sit here and type this, I am starting to feel for Mr. Mack and see his point on this. Four to six months is certainly more than fair notice. Plus only two of the people who live there actually own their trailer. Honestly, his investment in this park appears to be a "money pit" and will take some development for him to get out of it.
Joan Opyr <joanopyr at earthlink.net> wrote:
October 16, 2003
Moscow-Pullman Daily News
Moscow landowner has plans for new trailer park; Evictions will precede
construction.
By Hillary Hamm
Dan Mack doesnt 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 arent his. He wants to demolish the park and start from scratch.
This park is going to fall apart, Mack said. Theres a year or two
years until this thing is really going to be a problem. Some of these
trailers really arent 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 theyre sitting on is going to be worth more than
it is right now.
Thirteen of the parks 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 doesnt want to
renew the lease agreement. He also doesnt have to provide a reason for
eviction. Im not aware of any law violations based on my knowledge of
this, Eckmann said. Im 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. Its an investment that I want to make. I think theres a
need for more family type housing out here, he said. What Im 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 Macks discussions with the city. Its 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. Im trying to
meet two entities of governing that have two vehicles of governing that
dont mesh, Mack said. Im 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 Macks 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
cant give them much more information. We dont have anything to tell
them, he said. I would like to tell them (to leave) and get moving on
this. Theyre 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 dont feel its my
responsibility to take care of these people after they chose to move
there, he said. But Im 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. Were trying to fix these things, but we cant do it
with the trailers there, he said. Something has to be done one way or
another, and Id just as soon develop it than patch it up as it is.
What we have now is a dilapidated park. Im getting nickled and dimed
out of this.
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