THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 3, 1996 TAG: 9607030527
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MOYOCK LENGTH: 69 lines
In an effort to continue holding the reins on residential growth, Currituck County officials are eyeing a Moyock mobile home park whose owner is trying to revive it.
Currituck County officials are considering an ordinance that would essentially prevent, or severely limit, mobile home parks from expanding beyond their current capacities.
All but one of 15 mobile home parks in the county already operate at or near their limit. The exception is Orchard Park near the Virginia state line, which has only a fourth of its sites occupied.
``The language is clearly designed at Orchard Park,'' said Michael Power, whose Virginia Beach consulting firm, Park Concepts Inc., specializes in the manufactured housing industry.
Orchard Park has existed for about 25 years and recently was turned over to a Dutch company in a foreclosure.
De Sleutel, a limited liability company, wants to improve the park's utilities and amenities to bring back residents and make it profitable.
Only 135 of a possible 442 sites are occupied.
The park lost a lot of its homeowners several years ago when sanitation problems arose. The state ordered a drastic cut in occupancy until wastewater plant upgrades were done, county officials said.
The previous owners were never able to make those improvements.
If the county is allowed to limit Orchard Park to 135 sites, the mobile home community will never turn a profit, and its new owner will have little incentive to clean it up, Power said.
``So basically this property will never go away,'' he said. ``But it would always be a slum.''
County commissioners said at Monday's regular board meeting that their main concern is the impact an upswing in mobile home units could have on Currituck's already overburdened school system.
``This county's going broke because of all the children being generated,'' Commissioner Paul O'-Neal, who once lived in a mobile home, said of the burden new residences have placed on the county tax rolls.
Residential growth at the current real estate tax rate has not kept pace with county costs associated with schools.
``If we don't slow growth, there will never be an end to the taxes in this county,'' O'Neal added.
Because Orchard Park has been developed for about 440 units, its owners' plans to fill all of those sites should not be considered an expansion, Power said.
``There's no attempt to expand the park. There's instead an attempt to clean it up and improve it and resell homes as the market demands,'' Power said Tuesday.
Power also suggested a lawsuit might follow if the county enacts an ordinance limiting legally existing mobile home parks.
De Sleutel would suffer financial damages by not being allowed to refill sites and make Orchard Park profitable, Power said. The park's annual tax assessment is $1,350,000, he said.
If the intent of the local law is to keep out households with school-aged children, it may violate the Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination based on ``familial status.''
Several years ago, county officials placed a moritorium on mobile home parks to prevent the type of housing from proliferating throughout the rural county.
``There was a concern that if the trend kept continuing, there'd be too many mobile homes in the county - they'd be disproportionate to conventional housing,'' Jack Simoneau, the county's director of planning and inspections, said Tuesday.
A work session between De Sleutel agents and county officials is scheduled for next month. by CNB