Mobile Home Listings & News

Panel will address issues of mobile home residents

BY DAVE BENJAMIN
Staff Writer



JACKSON - The Township Council has formed a new advisory board to address the concerns of residents of Jackson's mobile home parks.

By a vote of 5-0, the council on March 13 created the Mobile Home Park Advisory Board.

Councilman Jason Gudaitis said the board is advisory in nature and can not take official action, but it can make recommendations to the council for changes in ordinances or other issues.

Simply put, it is an informal gathering of residents who wish to voice their own concerns and those of the other residents in their mobile home park, he said.

"We are eager to resolve as many issues facing these residents as possible and we feel the monthly meetings will be at a level of frequency sufficient to do so," Gudaitis said. "However, based on the number of concerns and desire of the board members, the schedule is certainly flexible."

Meetings of the Mobile Home Park Advisory Board will be held on the first Tuesday of every month at 7 p.m. in town hall. The first meeting was held April 3.

The new committee was prompted by Gudaitis' realization that Jackson's Rent Leveling Board was unable to address every issue being brought forth by the mobile home park residents.

"As chairman of the Community Development and Land Use Law subcommittee, I have made many visits to the Rent Leveling Board meetings," Gudaitis said. "I have heard the issues and concerns of the residents and I have spoken with various residents of several mobile home parks in town."

Gudaitis said he learned that the residents of Jackson's mobile home parks had no place to voice their concerns about their communities without going to the Township Council or to Rent Leveling Board meetings.

The problem is that residents of these communities were going to the Rent Leveling Board meetings to voice concerns not related to rent leveling, Gudaitis said.

As sympathetic as the members of that board were to the issues the residents were bringing to their attention, the board members and chairwoman Donna Hopkins understood they were restricted to specific issues, the councilman explained.

Other residential communities have boards or subcommittees formed so their voices can be heard, but the mobile home parks had no such option.

"Apparently they were used to the old form of [Jackson's municipal] government," Gudaitis said. "But that board would only meet two or three times a year, according to former members, which I felt was insufficient to properly address their concerns."

Gudaitis asked the council to revamp the Rent Leveling Board with representatives from mobile home parks, some former members of the old board and some new members to have a better balance.

He said he felt the residents of the mobile home parks deserve as much of an outlet and point of contact with the township as any other community, organization or club.

Councilwoman Emily Ingram said every resident has the right to be heard.

"As an elected official my job is to be there for the residents of Jackson," Ingram said. "I will be there to help them resolve their township issues.

Gudaitis said, "Maple Glen mobile home park selected Debbie Wankel and Gary Latanzi to be their representatives. Fran Krom from Oak Tree mobile home park was reappointed and the two representatives from Fountainhead are Shari Williams and Jacqueline Douglas. Both are involved in the State Manufactured Homeowners Association."

Gudaitis said the former board appears to have been open only to senior mobile home parks, but he and Ingram would like to extend an invitation to all mobile home parks in Jackson to participate.

If other mobile home parks are interested in sending a representative, both council members said they would like to be contacted through town hall or by e-mail at jgud@terrierclaims.com or emilyicpa@aol.com.

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