Families forced to leave RV park they call home – Restoration NewsMedia

For many years, residents at the Buckhorn Veterans Park have paid $500 or more a month for electricity, water and a space for their recreational vehicles. But on March 3, about 15 people from 10 families found eviction notices on their camper doors.

The Buckhorn Veterans Park is situated on 5.59 acres of property at 9005-9007 Sullivan Road, off Johnson Farm Road in a rural portion of western Wilson County between the Buckhorn Reservoir and the Johnston County line.

The note to renters is from park manager Toby Jordan.

It saddens us to announce that due to reasons beyond our control, you will have 30 days to seek other living arrangements, Jordans note reads. We apologize for the inconvenient that this may cause, and all money will be refunded.

NOT THE FIRST INFRACTION

Matt Taylor, planner and code enforcement officer with the Wilson County Development Services Department, sent a Jan. 22 zoning code violation letter to the parks owner, Willie Charles Jordan of Lucama.

On Jan. 10, 2024, a site investigation was conducted at the subject property listed above. This revealed that there is an unlawful campground operating on this parcel, the letter states. A campground is only permitted in an AR zoning district after a special-use permit has been given. Therefore, this parcel is in violation of the Wilson County Unified Development Ordinance.

Taylor informed the owner in the letter that this is not the first infraction for this noncompliance.

A notice of violation was sent to Jordan on May 24, 2022, regarding the operation of an unlawful campground on the property.

According to the letter, Willie Jordan made an appeal to the Wilson County Board of Adjustment to overturn the decision, and after hearing the appeal, the board affirmed our decision and thus declared the parcel to be in violation of the UDO.

Taylor explained in the letter that campgrounds are required to have a minimum of 10 acres, making the Buckhorn Veterans Park insufficient in size by more than 4 acres.

All activities associated with the operation of this unlawful campground must cease within 30 days of this notice of violation, he wrote.

Taylor gave Feb. 21 as the compliance deadline.

Taylor warned that failure to comply will result in civil penalties and potential legal action to obtain an injunction and order of abatement in Wilson County Superior Court. Jordan was again given the opportunity to appeal to the Wilson County Board of Adjustment within 30 days.

BLINDSIDED

Park renters were shocked to see they were being evicted.

We were blindsided by it, said Chris Billman, who lives in a trailer with his fiancee, Jamie Miller. I have been here going on six years. I really love it here. Now with all this, I dont know what were going to do.

Billman and Miller, who have a teenage boy, pay $550 a month for electricity, water, internet and sewage.

They have a 2006 trailer thats too old for most other campgrounds.

They wont accept us, Miller said. I never thought this would happen. I thought it was trustworthy.

Johnnie Ray Hyson III moved with his wife to the park a year and a half ago.

This was supposedly a legit place. Now we come to find out we have been paying rent for 16-17 months now under false pretenses and now we are going to get kicked out on the street, Hyson said. Where are we going to go? They are shutting the power off on April 3, and then we are going to be screwed.

For some residents, relocation isnt just an inconvenience.

I have lung cancer, said Robin Litchford.

Her husband, Gary Litchford, said his wife is on oxygen 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

We just found out a few minutes ago that they are going to turn the electricity off, Robin Litchford said. It takes electricity to run. The bottle wont last very long.

Resident Veronica Fisher said she is a metastatic breast cancer patient.

For me to find somewhere to move, especially if I go out of state, I will have to travel back and forth for about two months until they can get me established at a cancer center, she said. Now I will have to find another cancer center, and I have been with that cancer center for about 10 years now.

Fisher said the residents should have been informed of the campgrounds permitting problems from the outset.

If you already knew that you were never supposed to have this out here, then you should never have allowed us to rent, Fisher said.

George Hartman, a retired veteran who served in Vietnam, is the only one in the group with a trailer new enough to be accepted at another park. He plans to move March 28.

I think it sucks. These people are not being taking into consideration all these different people out here that need a place to live and cant afford anything more than what theyve got, Hartman said. They are comfortable where they are. I dont really understand why they are closing us down. I wish I had a place I could put them all, and I would be right in there in between them because I enjoy every one of their companies.

Tommy Nichols has lived in the park for five months and isnt able to move his camper.

I have called everywhere. There is no place for me to go because my camper is a 95, Nichols said. Wont nobody take it.

A BIG FAMILY

As you can see, everybody here is from somewhere else, and we have all gravitated together, said Bonnie Weatherford, who lives with her fiance, Mack Schupe.

Shupe called it a good little close-knit community down here.

Everybody helps everybody out, Shupe said.

When somebody cooks out, they will bring you food over, Nichols said.

I think we got done wrong is how I feel about it. We were under the impression that he had everything set up for a campground, and now this coming out and he aint nowhere near set up for it, so now hes going to throw 10 families out into the street, Shupe said. To me, I dont see no right in that. Its just wrong.

Shupe is confident that they will make it.

It might be tough, Shupe said. But I aint coming off my wife and I aint coming off my dog. They are going to stay together. That I promise

Weatherford said the residents are not hating on the owner, who they say is a nice man, a retired veteran who spent much time cutting trees and removing stumps before offering rentals to the public.

The residents wish there was a way to stay.

Why cant they fine him and get the right permits and let us stay? Nichols asked.

The campgrounds owners could not be reached for comment.

UNLAWFUL CAMPGROUND

Stephen Mann, director of communications for Wilson County, confirmed the Jan. 22 letter from Wilson County Development Services is authentic.

The original violation notice to Mr. Jordan was not directed toward the operation of the Buckhorn Veterans Association on the property located at 9007 Sullivan Road or any community events that may take place there, Mann said. The violation is the continuing use of the real property as a campground/RV park. The county uniform development ordinance governs the use of this property, and any landowner in the county who wants to operate a campground must comply with the regulations set forth in it.

Mann said Wilson County had received several calls from current tenants and explained that the countys UDO doesnt allow the propertys use as a campground.

The initial notice of violation states that all activities associated with the operation of this unlawful campground would cease within 30 days of the initial notice; however, the county has documentation showing that the property was recently being advertised as a campground, Mann said. The county has received no response from Mr. Jordan; however, based on the phone call from tenants, the county believes that Mr. Jordan has given notice to campers to move out. The county has decided not to take enforcement action so long as campers are attempting to relocate.

Visit link:
Families forced to leave RV park they call home - Restoration NewsMedia