Residents fight to keep homes, as demolition begins for new mobile home park near Lake Galena – The Intelligencer

A developer is demolishing an existing community to make way for a new 46-unit mobile home community near Lake Galena in New Britain Township. A few residents living in existing mobile homes, are fighting to stay as demolition begins.

Before Dale Bowles moved into a New Britain Township mobile home 11 years ago, he was homeless, sleeping on the concrete floor of a storage unit in Willow Grove.

"This community has been a gem," said Bowles, pacing outside as a excavator with an extended bucket clawed through the roof of a former neighbors home.

His home faces the same fate, but hes not leaving.

Clutching an eviction notice that says his community is being "terminated," Bowles is fighting to hold on to his home or get what he considers fair compensation from the developer who is razing the properties at Lake Ridge Mobile Home Park in order to build a new, more modern mobile home park.

According to a sketch plan of the proposal submitted to the county in October, RHG Properties LLC is looking to build 46 double-wide (25-foot by 52-foot) mobile home units on a 14.73-acre site located on Limekiln Road, just 800 feet from the intersection with Ferry Road.

Neither New Britain Township nor the property owners returned calls or responded to questions about the displacement of residents or the plans for the new mobile home community, which will quadruple the number of units there.

As heavy machinery ripped through homes and loaded dumpsters Monday afternoon, Bowles likened the site to an aftermath of a hurricane.

But hes not budging.

"We are sticking strong because we have no place else to go," said Bowles, who was told to be out by last Sunday but is fighting the developers orders. His son, Andrew Bowles, who lives in a neighboring home with his wife and 4-year-old son, is among four other homeowners who refuse to give up their titles to their homes.

While they own their homes, they rent the lots they sit on as is common practice in mobile home communities.

Bowles treasures the location by Lake Galena, where he takes walks with his grandson and enjoys the park and the local wildlife. Finding affordable housing in the area is tough enough, but nearly impossible at a peaceful location with so many amenities close by, he said.

The lease hes been paying on the land at 35 Limekiln Road is $800 a month, which includes utilities.

"Where can I find that around here? No where," he said.

Watching his son drive a toy Jeep along the rural road, Andrew Bowles said the location is both close to his wifes job at Pine Run nursing home, and its walking distance to Lenape Valley Foundation, where he gets care.

Both Dale and Andrew Bowles have been offered $3,500 for their homes. But they would like more.

"Im asking for $5,000. Im not asking for much more," said the the older Bowles.

Considering how much new mobile homes go for in the area, he believes his price is reasonable.

In a nearby mobile home community, Colonial Heritage, new mobile homes are selling for around $149,000, according to sales listed on ABC Home Sales, which will be selling and installing new homes in the rising New Britain community too.

Folks of #LakeGalena mobile home park @NewBritainTwp1 want more from developer whos razing homes to build 50 new mobile homes. #forcedout pic.twitter.com/Wcz8zjElFM

Bowles would be interested in one of the new communitys homes, but the price is out of reach. He asked if he could keep his home in the community, but he was told his residence is "too dilapidated."

The eviction notice came from property manager ABC Home Sales.

Dated Feb. 20, the letter demands that Bowles "vacate the leased property and give possession of leased property to the landlord within ten days."

"This is because the manufactured home community is being terminated."

RHG Properties LLC, owned by Frank Perano, bought the property for $700,000 in 2004 from Colonial Park for Mobile Homes, according to county assessment records.

Fighting demolition

Bowles, now represented by attorneys with the Community Justice Project, said hell wait for the courts to decide. Many of the residents forced out include seniors, the disabled and others who dont have the means to buy or rent in the surrounding communities, he said.

Attorney Kevin Quisenberry, who is representing Bowles as part of the Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network, is working to negotiate an agreement with the mobile park owner to help displaced residents secure both more time to find a home and resources to appraise their homes so they can be compensated for more than what developers are required to pay by state law, which is $2,500.

He said the developer gave the community a six-month notice that the park is closing. A spokesman from the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, which works to find affordable housing for low-income residents, said the owner RHG Properties did alert the agency, as required, in August.

The protections in place for displaced residents from mobile homes are essential, Quisenberry said, as such closures trigger a toll on a population of residents who often struggle to find affordable housing.

"You have a group of people who own homes but rent the lot where the home sits," said Quisenberry. "If the park is going to close, residents are stuck with a difficult choice: Can they move the home to some place or not? Its an expensive proposition to move a home, costing thousands depending on what needs to be done, and where are they going to move it to?"

Plus, the move is shocking to families, who often rely on public transportation, neighbors and community resources to uproot their lives, he said.

"We represent people who cant pay for everything they need, so being uprooted and forced to rebuild their life and situation is even more difficult for people with limited financial means," Quisenberry said.

Bowles just doesnt want to end up where he was 11 years ago. He said property managers have already threatened to turn off the utilities.

"If something doesnt happen soon, Ill be homeless."

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Residents fight to keep homes, as demolition begins for new mobile home park near Lake Galena - The Intelligencer