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

Fri Dec 9 10:43:12 PST 2005

As a matter of compassion, I think it would be appropriate for us to ask ourselves, "what can we do to help these people who will be evicted?"  

J Ford <privatejf32 at hotmail.com> wrote:
  I think you're missing one of the main concerns here, Tom.

Mr. Mack went to the county, asked for and received a break on the water 
because he said he was trying to do right by his tenants and then in less 
time than it takes to run to a land developer, basically back-stabs those 
same tenants by evicting them and deeming them less than desireables.

The APPEARANCE is that Mr. Mack had a plan in mind from the beginning 
regarding his land and went about it in a very harmful and hurtful 
manner...the PEOPLE of those trailers are not his concern - the land is.

Feel sorry for him is you must, but remember that once again the poor are 
the ones paying the price for some greedy so-n-so's wants.

J ;)

>From: Tom Ivie 
>To: Vision2020 Moscow 
>Subject: Re: [Vision2020] More on City Councilwoman JoAnn Mack's son, Dan
>Date: Fri, 9 Dec 2005 09:27:22 -0800 (PST)
>
>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 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 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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