Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

Manhattan: Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, in The right way to reopen schools (op-ed, Aug. 19), suggests that we not open the schools until after September, and, even then, only for the youngest children, phasing in older students gradually. If we do not heed his message, schools will open and close within two weeks, and, instead of providing instruction, we will have increased infections. I was a teacher and supervisor for 32 years in the NYC DOE. Do the powers that be really think children can socially distance and wear masks all day? All you need is one child who takes off the mask, or goes over to a friend for a chat, and youve potentially infected an entire class. Mayor de Blasios plan is doomed to failure. Do not open the schools. Begin with remote learning and proceed from there. Barbara Guinan, Ed.D.

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Readers sound off on camp in COVID, Broken Windows and car accidents - New York Daily News

An age-restricted mobile-home community moved one step closer to reality this week when the Pierson Town Council gave second and final approval to rezoning two large parcels next to the new elementary school on the north side of town.

The parcels totalling about 158 acres border the school site on the south and north. The land is owned by Samuel Bennett, a Pierson fern grower and businessman who also is the Town Council chairman. He abstained from the vote.

A parcel of approximately five acres fronting U.S. 17 south of the school remains zoned for future General Retail Commercial use.

Ive put a lot of time and effort into this, but I think it will be a good addition to the town, Bennett told The West Volusia Beacon several days before the vote. We are having a lot of growth in Pierson, but at a slower pace than other areas.

Before the rezoning, the land was designated for mostly agricultural and conservation uses, with a portion zoned for low-density estate residences. It now has MH-1 (Medium Density Mobile Home) zoning.

The rezoning is just the first hurdle in making the community a reality. Bennett said construction plans still have to be approved by the towns Planning Commission and the Town Council before any work could begin.

I would hope this would continue to move right along, he said.

According to Bennett and an analysis by the towns planner, Mark Karet, the community of 400 units will be restricted to residents 55 years of age and older and will include supporting amenities. The sites will be primarily for rent to residents who provide their own homes, but Bennett said he may install some manufactured homes to sell.

Plans call for the project to be built in phases, with 10 to 20 sites in the first phase, along with streets, city water and individual septic tanks, Bennett said.

According to Karets report, most of the 158-acre site is uplands and not in the 100-year flood plain.

Most of these uplands consist of pine flatwoods that have been periodically harvested in the past, the report says. The site does contain approximately 56 acres of wetlands. The regulatory agencies will require avoidance and minimization of development impacts to these wetlands either by eliminating impacts altogether or by limiting the degree of impacts as much as possible. The applicant [Bennett] will be required to maintain upland buffers along the perimeter of the wetlands to avoid secondary impacts to the wetlands.

Karet also pointed out that the community would have a positive effect on the towns economy.

The Town of Pierson is in need of new housing that will support existing businesses, the report says. The residences of this community will be over 55 years of age. In general this demographic tends to have higher disposable incomes than younger residents.

Bennett doesnt yet have a developer lined up to build the community, nor does he have any plans to develop the commercial section.

Im not looking to do anything with [the commercial portion], but its available if anyone does want to use it, he said.

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Pierson to get mobile-home community for those age 55-plus - The West Volusia Beacon

By Faye Gaston

The Union Springs Planning Commission met for a public hearing on August 3, 2020, VIA Phone Conference facilitated by City Attorney, Elizabeth Smithart.

Brian Agnew, Chairman, made comments prior to the Public Hearing: "In 2012 the City of Union Springs went through expensive and necessary public meetings to review the zoning ordinance and rezone and create new zoning for the betterment of the city.

"The new zoning ordinance limits manufactured homes (mobile homes), in the city. Mobile homes do not increase the value of property.

"When a mobile home is placed next to or near a stick-built home, the property values go down. There is value in owning a stick-built home."

The public hearing was about placing mobile homes on seven locations in the city. Speaking in opposition were Henry Brown regarding a mobile home on 204 Holcombe Avenue East, Jacqueline Patterson about 131 Seale Avenue, and Willye Nance about Johnson Street. No one spoke in opposition to placing a mobile home on 111 Montgomery Avenue, 161 Rayfield Street, 905 Johnson Street, or 406 Waugh Street.

The extended remarks from Willye Nance stated that the original zoning for the neighborhood (Johnson Street) is R-3-Multifamily Residential for high population densities-apartments, boarding houses, condominiums. Mobile homes are not included in the scope of the zoning ordinance as it is written.

They are provided for in the ordinance addressing manufactured homes. He gave quotes from the zoning ordinance and the Comprehensive Plan and stated his views. He said a mobile home would change the neighborhood from its original character and decrease the value of properties.

"I've observed that more and more mobile homes are being placed on lots contrary to zoning ordinances, giving many areas the look of large, mobile home parks. Even now, the areas along Tye Street, which dissect with the street where my property is, there are scatterings of mobile homes.

"The neighborhood is slowly losing its character. If this trend continues, the approval of Conditional Use Requests, will eventually make the R3 zoning ordinance null and void. I don't want that to happen in the neighborhood where my property is located. This would include Thomas, Tye, Johnson, and Locke Streets. I think existing zoning ordinances and the vision stated in the Comprehensive Plan should be strictly followed."

Speaking in favor of placing mobile homes as requested were Felicia Hudson, Lucy Bailey, Peggy Pitts, Shamika Smith, Svetlana Mack, Kennedy Mack, Andre Miles, Kaleah Miles, and Judy Glaze.

Members of the Planning Commission who were present VIA phone conference were: Bryan Agnew, Chr; Joyce Perrin, Co-Chr; Presetta Walker, Secretary; Mayor Saint T. Thomas, Jr., Carla Elston and Gary Hyche. Members absent were: Larry Stewart, Charlotte Phillips, and Peggy Goodwin.

The Public Hearing ended, immediately followed by the Planning Commission's meeting with a roll call vote regarding granting the requests.

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Public Hearing conducted by Planning Commission | News - Union Springs Herald

The following Q&A comes from a recent interview with the Crawford/Hubbell family, who own the El Jebel area under Crawford Properties, LLC. Participating in the discussion were Adele Hubbell (the daughter of Floyd Crawford and widow of Carl Hubbell) and her two sons, Robert Hubbell and Prentice Hubbell.

Sopris Sun: The first question many people ask is Where does the name El Jebel come from?

Adele: The name was given by an earlier owner of the 1280 acre property Henry Gillespie. The name changed to the El Jebel Shrine in 1888 and is home to the Shriners fraternity which has included Arabic influences. El Jebel means mountain in Arabic.Sopris Sun: Please relate the history of Crawford Properties and how its tied to the Hubbell family.

Adele: My dad, Floyd Crawford bought El Jebel Ranch, then a farming and ranching operation In 1961. Crawford wanted to keep the town in harmony with its site, according to the website. Crawford made significant improvements including better water and sewage utilities, adding a fire department, a schoolhouse, a post office and widening and paving the road.

Sopris Sun: How do you feel now about the community your family has built?

Adele: I am so proud of what El Jebel has become. All the people who live here are like family.They are hard-working people who mostly commute to Aspen and are employed in businesses including restaurants and lodges. The mobile home park was created in the early 1960s to help provide affordable housing for workers on Ruedi Reservoir and the surrounding area.

Sopris Sun: How large is El Jebel and how many residents live here?

Robert: It runs from Blue Lake to Highway 82 and then across El Jebel Road to include the shopping center, now leased by restaurants and other businesses. The vintage large white house and the pond are now owned by another branch of the family. The community has between 1,000 and 1,500 residents.

Sopris Sun: What about the elk ranch?

Robert Crawford Properties owns the 180-acre section, but the elk herd is owned and managed by my uncle Noel Crawford.

Sopris Sun: How did the newly developed modular home section develop?Prentice: We started to explore expanding our El Jebel Mobile Home Park home park in 2015. It took a year of planning and cost analysis to see if we could afford to build it. This is the only product that would fit the price point we needed to be at in order to keep rents affordable. Today the average cost to build in the Mid-Valley is well into $300+ per square foot. We were able to install infrastructure and place these homes for roughly one third of that. That expanded area added 46 to the previous total of 289 residences.

Sopris Sun: What are the demographics of the area?

Robert: The population of the mobile home park is about 60 percent Hispanic, and most are married. We really have embraced their culture. Weve extended a hand out.

Sopris Sun: We dont want to forget about June Park, named for your grandmother, June Crawford. How did this come about?

Robert: It definitely took a village. Our support came from five local organizations plus 172 volunteers who came from Aspen to Parachute to help. The design was aided by a group of 20 kids who related their choices at a community meeting and wanted to include an area for adults while the youngsters enjoyed the playground.

Sopris Sun: Any future plans?Robert: Were looking at improving the infrastructure and amenities of the area, including switching from private sewage-treatment to the Mid Valley Metropolitan District. Weve already upgraded the ballfield,which gets a lot of use.

Sopris Sun: Do you have any vacancies?

Robert: No. The demand for the space is high. We probably get one to three people per day looking for a place to rent. We have a long waiting list.

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Meet the Hubbells - soprissun.com

LAKE BERRYESSA, Calif. In the sprawling destruction of Californias wildfires, one photo became an instant icon for 2020s miseries: On a hillside roaring with flames stood a sign that asked visitors to a senior center to wear masks, wash their hands and be safe. Come Join Us, it beckoned creepily.

The virus. Lost jobs. A world aflame.

Yep, said Judi Vollmer, whose trailer home down the road from the sign burned down last week, just days after she learned that her 92-year-old father had tested positive for the coronavirus that pretty much sums up life right now.

Ms. Vollmer, 65, was succinct: 2020 can go to hell. This has been the worst year of my life.

Somehow, that welcome sign outside the Lake Berryessa senior center was still standing on Tuesday as residents trickled back through police barricades and road closures to check out what little had survived.

Three people were killed one of them a 71-year-old man in a wheelchair when flames swarmed their mountainside property. Family members said they had tried to escape, but as a last resort took refuge in a homemade burn shelter. Relatives identified the victims as Mary Hintemeyer, 70, her boyfriend, Leo McDermott, 71, and Mr. McDermotts 41-year-old son, Tom.

Much of the lakefront community of retirees and young families who commute to landscaping, winery and service jobs in wealthier corners of Napa County had been reduced to a thicket of tangled steel and ash.

Now, as people in this community of 1,700 salvaged chipped tea saucers and wooden lanterns from the char of about 100 destroyed homes, their worries were a microcosm of the question haunting so many people during this season of pandemic and strife: Would they ever get their old lives back?

Weve lost so many people who wont be back, said Jerry Rehmke, 80, who runs the country store with his wife, Marcia Ritz, 77. Her trailer home, with all of the drawings and paintings she had made, burned in the Spanish Flat Villa mobile home park, along with Ms. Vollmers trailer and about 50 others.

Everything, Ms. Ritz said. Its down to the ground.

The constellation of wildfires staining Californias skies and stinging peoples lungs across the West have now killed seven and destroyed at least 1,690 homes and other buildings, officials said. It is still early in a wildfire season expected to rage through the fall. So as 15,000 firefighters pushed to gain control of the blazes around the state, thousands of families who evacuated are now streaming back and wondering whether they will have to flee again.

On Wednesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom said the accounting of death and damage could rise as people return home. Weve never seen fire of this scale in this part of the state, he said. It demonstrates the reality not just the point of view of climate change and its impact in this state.

Ms. Ritz moved to Lake Berryessa 13 years ago and took over running the country store (which survived, as did some marinas and campgrounds). Their store actually boomed during the pandemic as stir-crazy boaters and anglers flooded the area and snapped up orders of chicken sandwiches and meatloaf. That is over now, and faced with years of rebuilding and a bleak economic future, Ms. Ritz said she was ready to quit altogether.

Our customers have gone, Ms. Ritz said on Tuesday morning, a few minutes after she woke up from another night sleeping outside on an air mattress beside the country store. By the end of the year Ill be out. This is it.

Her husband piped up: We should take down the sign that says Only Five People in the Store. There may not be five people up here.

It was never simple living along Lake Berryessa, a reservoir stocked with trout and catfish that is also famous for a drain that creates a vortex-like hole during wet years. Work is scarce, and cities and groceries are a 40-minute drive along vertiginous mountain roads. The roads can glaze with ice in the winter, and on 90-degree summer days, pints of ice cream melt into soup before you can get them home.

People said they moved from bigger cities because they liked the rural quiet and seeing mountain lions out their windows. On Tuesday morning, a singed fox limped through the mobile home park, paying no heed to the residents and power crews in the street.

Some people had been drawn to the lake by Californias affordable-housing crisis, pushed out of the rest of Napa. They said this was one of the last corners of affordable housing for people earning minimum wage or living off Social Security in a county where the average home costs more than $700,000.

Fire had always been a threat, but evacuations and smoke have gotten even more common as climate change compounds the risk of fires in what is known as the wildland-urban interface. Hillsides overgrown with dry fuel are broiling, and the greenery that people say they cherish about life here has gone as brown as scorched crust.

For the past four years, people around the lake said they watched fires march toward their homes, only to be beaten back. The local Lions Club would donate money to fire victims. Local officials installed a cache of emergency beds and supplies and a big new generator at the senior center to be used as a fallback spot, residents said.

We know what devastation it does, Pam Stadnyk, whose trailer home burned, including the wood deck she had just put in, said as she walked through the area on Tuesday for the first time since the fires. Weve been living with it. You just get to a point where you and she trailed off.

Months of the pandemic already had worn on the mobile home parks working-class residents. Some lost work at Napas wineries and restaurants.

Edward Morrison, 57, had lost overtime work doing delivery runs to businesses that closed as the pandemic dragged on. One of his sons had been living near Paradise last year when a wildfire gutted the town and killed more than 50 people. Now, his trailer was rubble and his cat was missing. He called a dispatcher.

Your address? she asked Mr. Morrison.

Well my address burned down, he said.

Ms. Vollmer, who had lived at the lake for 18 years, kept working throughout the pandemic. Her $13-an-hour job at the country store was considered essential work, and though she had asthma and customers sometimes refused to wear masks, she kept going and did not get sick.

She had stayed away from her 92-year-old fathers nursing home since February until a couple of weeks ago, when Ms. Vollmer said she got a call telling her that he had tested positive for the coronavirus. Ms. Vollmer said that he had Alzheimers disease and sometimes did not know if she was his daughter or wife, but that he seemed fine when she visited him through his window recently.

I dont know if it could get any more stressful than this, she said.

The fire, like the pandemic, has hit Californias poorest residents hardest. Homeowners able to keep up with the complications and rising costs of insuring property in a fire zone had a safety net. But Ms. Vollmer said her carrier dropped her after a wildfire a few years ago. The trailer was her lifes investment and her retirement plan, and it burned alongside the $3,000 in cash she had tucked away inside.

The Red Cross is putting her up in a hotel near the airport in Napa along with three of her five cats the ones she was able to rescue. She received a paper bag stuffed with donated clothes, but said she did not know where to go at the end of the week when her hotel stay was up.

She said she loved the community. When her husband died eight years ago, people took up a collection to pay for his cremation. She said she did not know how to start over at 65.

Were survivors from up there, she said. We dodged the bullet so many times. We always were OK.

Jill Cowan contributed reporting from Los Angeles.

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2020 Can Go to Hell: The Story Behind the Viral Fire Photo That Said It All - The New York Times

WINNIE The only truck that could haul the RV had broken down two days before, so the two families on Big Hill Road were among the last left in Winnie before Hurricane Laura slammed down.

It had broken down two days before, leaking oil all over the freeway. Travis Fields managed to steer it back before it broke entirely. As the winds picked up, he leaned over the hood and called out to his wife for the wrench.

Ang Amber Angela whatever your name is

He couldnt see, he was too busy inspecting the car, but Angela Fields put her hands on her hips and raised her eyebrows. That your girlfriend? My name was Angela when I married you.

Angela and Travis Fields live with their two children on a property with a barn that still shows damage from Hurricane Ike on its tin doors. They just moved to Winnie in late June.

Were fully expecting to come home to nothing, Angela said. Nothing.

They live on the property with Taylor and Andrew Stewart. They got married in March. Andrew remembers all the way back to Ike. Taylors grandparents house was further up to the road before Hurricane Ike. When they came back, it was flattened. They dont have high hopes for their mobile homes. (Theyll shred like Swiss cheese.)

The Stewarts have an appliance shop set up at the front of the property: Washers, dryers, refrigerators all stacked near each other. They dont expect to see it again. Andrew just got his aquaponics garden plants grown from the waste of the fish tank underneath their soil set up. He figures the fish will go free.

Once they get the truck up and running, the two families are evacuating to a hotel near Houstons Hobby Airport, with two children, three dogs (Anna, Sophie and Coco), a guinea pig and a rat in tow. Theyre leaving the goat locked in the barn. Shes smart. Shell climb. If they could take her, they would have. Some horses were left behind in Winnie; even more cows. Angelas seen posts on Facebook from horse owners, begging to borrow a trailer.

Angela put the family pictures, the familys clothes and some toys for her children in the RV She chose what to take based on necessity: Items that will keep her kids happy, sentimental keepsakes. The mattresses can be replaced.

Her 6-year-old daughter, Blake, wandered around in sunglasses and a unicorn nightgown until Angela sent her to pack. (Its your responsibility, not mine, shed said. Blake walked away, muttering that shed ask her daddy for help).

As Andrew and Travis worked on the car Travis perched on the hood, Andrew lying underneath Taylor secured a small John Deere tractor near the bamboo. Angela turned to go pack up the last of the house.

Were in the final stages now, Andrew promised.

Angela huffed. Yeah, she said. I been hearing that for about four hours now.

They had an hour and a half until curfew.

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With children and pets in tow, two families in Winnie flee Hurricane Laura, expecting the worst - Houston Chronicle

WINDOW ROCK

Oliver Whaley, director of the Navajo Environmental Protection Agency, believes Clean Water Act violations committed by Dineh Benally and his hemp greenhouse production are enough for his office to stop operations, but there needs to be coordination.

When NEPA received reports from residents that Benallys hemp workers were discharging sewage into the San Juan River, NEPA began looking into it. Although NEPAs Water Quality department did not find sewage in the river, they found a list of other concerning issues regarding the mobile homes workers have moved onto farms and other parts of the land, which goes against the home-site lease process. NEPA also found violations regarding the hemp greenhouses.

We found they installed septic tanks without any regard to our domestic wastewater regulations, said Whaley, a clear violation of the Clean Water Act. They didnt get any permits or anything like that. It didnt appear they were using them to hold sewage but for shower, hand-washing water. But it still has to be put in place properly and still has to be pumped out and disposed of properly.

Then there are the generators running fans in the greenhouses, which can be found in Shiprock, Gadiahi, Hogback, and other communities throughout the Navajo Nation.

Benally has planted up to 2.5 million hemp plants on 300 acres as of early August, according to Charlie Galbraith, special counsel for the Navajo Nation, during an Aug. 10 hearing. By now this may have increased. Theyve got a number of generators running the fans, air vent systems in the greenhouses, said Whaley. Thats a question of air quality. There are thresholds that you have to meet in terms of pollutants you release and whether you need a permit.

In this case, he said, the greenhouses are big enough, and theres enough of them it may need minor source point permit to operate those. There is also the matter of large gas storage tanks to feed the generators.

Whether the aboveground storage tanks adhere to regulation depends on their size and capacity. Last week, these issues and more were brought to the attention of President Jonathan Nez and Attorney General Doreen McPaul, as well as others in the executive branch, in hopes some sort of inter-agency coordination could take place to end the hemp production.

We have some administrative authority and can take some action, but any action we take still has to be coordinated in some strategic fashion, said Whaley. For the most part, any coordination Whaley was hoping for wasnt determined and not much came from this meeting.

But due to Benallys blatant violation of the Clean Water Act and not complying with other rules and regulations set forth by NEPA, Whaley said his office can demand compliance and if that doesnt happen they can terminate operations. I think we have enough information that they violated the act, and there is potential environmental impacts so that we can take action, said Whaley. On my end I can issue and serve an order requiring compliance and even emergency orders. We can do that now but when it comes to enforcing those order it needs to go through Navajo DOJ.

The Navajo Nation, its leaders, and its courts are not moving fast enough to put a stop to the crops, which has aggravated communities that are impacted directly and have had to deal with the plants strong smell as well as bright lights and heavy vehicle traffic for the entire spring and summer, when Benally ramped up production.

What faith the community had in leadership has dwindled to nearly nothing and on Monday, Shiprock residents held a second protest on the Mesa Road that leads to Benallys home and a few of his hemp operations. As non-Navajo workers drove by, the group screamed to them, Go home! while waving signs.

I dont know what the Navajo Nation is going to do, said protester and Shiprock resident Bea Redfeather-Benally. I feel like theyre useless. Im really disappointed with their justice system. Im angry because my familys safety is on the line, she said. Is it going to take someone to die or get injured for them to wake up and do something? If the tribe and DOJ cant handle this, maybe they should turn it over to the state. They cant handle their own laws.

Vernida Bissonette from Hogback said shes been harassed by Benallys non-Navajo hemp farm workers.

She also claimed the workers can be found at City Market in Shiprock looking at young women and taking pictures of them. Bissonette said she worries about the man camps that are being built by these workers. We got two man camps going on north of me, she said. Im concerned of our children and for our safety. We are tired of this. Our delegates, our President Nez, they need to hear us. We put them in those positions so they can stand for us, she said.

Theyre supposed to keep us safe. We want them to step down the councilmen, the farm board members all to step down. Its time Shiprock gets a new face.

Navajo Nation Police and their chief, Phillip Francisco, were also at the protest and at one point a vehicle of non-Navajo workers stopped in the middle of the road after protesters waved their signs at them. Francisco told the driver to pull to the side and after checking the workers the chief said they didnt have picture identification and did not understand much English. We are gathering up their names and sending it to the chief prosecutor to have them excluded, said Francisco. Theyre trespassing on the Navajo Nation.

Redawn George, another resident who has been vocal about the hemp production, said she texted Vice President Myron Lizer about the protest and said the community would begin to start taking matters into their own hands. When she saw Navajo Nation Police there, she said she wasnt too sure if they were there to keep the peace or to protect Benallys workers.

I let the VP know we were going to take things into our own hands based on no enforcement from local law enforcement, said George, who said reports given to police officers usually arent addressed. We are tired of waiting. All these officials, elected officials, law enforcement its money that is the bottom line. Francisco said calls made to dispatch have to be prioritized because of low manpower. Communities have been calling officers and reporting on speeding and curfew and lockdown violations.

Sometimes we can only respond to major calls like domestic violence, Francisco said. Violent crimes are a priority. So calls like speeding are put at the bottom, which isnt fair, but its the reality of us not having enough people. Whaley said Francisco informed him hed provide officers should any NEPA officials go to Benallys hemp farms for any inspections, which Whaley said may need to happen.

For now Whaley is waiting on feedback from U.S. EPA in terms of how they can assist NEPA, since a lot of what is happening falls under federal purview, and if thats the case this gives NEPA teeth to move forward, rather than waiting for Navajo Nation leadership to act.

To my understanding their final harvest is supposed to be the end of September or early October, said George, who is one of many disappointed in Shiprock District Court Judge Genevieve Woodys lack of action during an Aug. 10 hearing on a civil complaint filed by the Navajo Nation against Benally.

Woody had delayed her ruling pending additional briefs by both sides, which Benallys opponents argue will give him time to harvest his crop and pull up stakes. Theyll pull all of them (hemp plants) out and then theyll leave all these structures, and these people will get their permits and home-site leases taken away, she said. Those things are going to happen.

Benally did not return an email requesting comment.

Related

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NEPA may be able to cite hemp production - Navajo Times

The shortage of affordable housing is one of the largest unresolved issues in commercial real estate today. Huge numbers of renters are struggling to find a place to live within their means, and the problem is only getting worse in the current economic environment. Since the growing demand for affordable housing presents an opportunity for unconventional solutions, the manufactured housing industry may be well-positioned to reap the benefits of that pent-up demand.

Manufactured homes have long been overlooked as a niche residential sector, yet they comprise a significant portion of the U.S. housing stock. According to the National Low-Income Housing Coalition, manufactured homes comprise 6 percent of the total housing stock nationwide and 9 percent of all new single-family construction starts. There are an estimated 6.7 million occupied manufactured homes in the United States. In 2019, 4,000 new manufactured homes shipped at an average sale price of $84,600 excluding land acquisition costs. This makes manufactured homes one of the fastest-growing housing segments.

READ ALSO: Manufactured Housing Powers Through

Todays manufactured home communities are quite different from the mobile home parks of the past. Manufactured homes are built with the same materials and techniques as in-place built homes. They include many of the same luxury amenities found in traditionally built new homes including high-end amenities, like granite countertops and artisanal fixtures. The construction cost for these homes is roughly half the price per square foot of in-place built homes, while still boasting the same luxury amenities of their traditional counterparts.

Approximately 40 percent of manufactured homes are built on land leased from land-leased communities. There are an estimated 50,000 of these communities nationwide. Roughly three-quarters of these homes are owner-occupied. The average length of tenancy for these properties is measured in decades. Nearly half of all manufactured home communities are located in rural areas away from the urban core; however, there is a growing interest in suburban areas.

There are challenges limiting where manufactured housing communities can be established. Many state, regional and local zoning ordinances and homeowners associations prohibit construction of manufactured homes. This is mostly due to outdated stereotypes about trailer parks and their perceived effects on property values and crime rates.

Modern manufactured homes do not bring these problems, but attitudes towards them have been slower to change. The rising demand for affordable housing may create an opportunity to rethink the policies that have kept manufactured homes away from the urban cores.

There are very few mobile home parks out there that were built later than the 1970s, said manufactured home park investor Frank Rolfe, co-owner of MHP Funds, the sixth-largest owner of mobile home parks nationwide.

While manufactured housing and mobile homes are sometimes used interchangeably, manufactured housing generally refers to home units built after 1976 and in adherence withthe U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards.

Thats because it has been difficult for park owners to find municipalities that will approve the construction of a new park, and even expansions of existing parks can prove challenging.

Out of 500 mobile home parks that we have collectively owned over the past 25 years we have not succeeded in building more than 10 to twenty expansions to existing parks, Rolfe added.

Christopher Ptomey, executive director for the Urban Land Institute Terwilliger Center for Housing, believes that perceptions are beginning to change. From the outside, a manufactured single-family home looks absolutely no different from a 100 percent stick-built building, he said. As the technologies have improved, we have seen them move into more urban and suburban settings.

So, according to Ptomey, There are important aspects to applying manufacturing processes to housing that offer real opportunities to address some of the affordability challenges.

According to the Manufactured Housing Institute, 22 million people in the U.S. live in manufactured housing. The median household income for manufactured housing residents is under $30,000 per year. In many markets, these are the most inexpensive housing units that do not rely on government subsidies.

MHI is working to overcome some of the public perception problems that the sector has. Primary among them is the belief that the product is of low quality and that park owners are predatory. MHI CEO Lesli Goochwho insists on the term manufactured housing as opposed to mobile homeshas been working hard to change those perceptions.

The vast majority of park owners and operators care about their residents, she stressed, and some of the newer manufactured homes are brand new homes that are a quality product that have the features that consumers are looking for today.

The manufactured housing industry is benefiting from urban sprawl. As the suburbs continue to expand farther from the city centers, places that were once exurbs are becoming part of widening metro areas. These areas have avoided the NIMBY problem by being in place in advance of development.

The traditional homeownership prices have steadily increased at a significantly faster rate than median household income. Homeownership is currently out of reach for many renters and growing more difficult every year. Manufactured housing has the potential to benefit from this widening gap.

Manufactured housing is the only form of detached affordable housing in America, said Rolfe, noting that in his parks the majority of homes are already paid off and residents have no greater hurdle than lot rent, which averages nationwide at $280 a month.

For manufactured housing investors, the barrier for entry is much lower than with other asset classes. A manufactured home community only needs shovel-ready land with access to water, sewer and electricity. As the structures themselves are owned by the residents, the maintenance costs are limited to landscaping, common area maintenance and utility repair. Longer rates of tenancy equate to lower rates of turnover. With low acquisition and operating costs, manufactured housing can be a very lucrative investment.

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Why Manufactured Housing Is the New Affordable Housing - Commercial Property Executive

By JOHN HOWELL

It couldnt be coincidental from the perspective of Ward 5 Councilman Ed Ladouceur: Riverview residents launch an online petition for the city administration to move ahead with Bayside sewers and in the same week the Warwick Sewer Authority brings up the matter at its monthly meeting.

For Ladouceur, WSA discussion of DAmbra Constructions $19.7 million bid submitted in February was a sign that his seven-year crusade for Bayside sewers is still on track and perhaps has a chance of starting this year.

But as of Wednesday it was not clear how the Bayside contract ended up on the WSA agenda or if, in fact, Mayor Joseph J. Solomon, who has questioned whether the project has the approval of the Narragansett Tribe and if less costly options are available to homeowners, has given it his blessing. In response to that question, the mayors office emailed the following response: The City has determined that the Bayside sewer bid is still valid.

Ladouceur said Wednesday he spoke this week with Tribe representatives Medicine Man John Brown and Nancy Brown Garcia and that there is a question over the memorandum of understanding (MOU) reached about two years ago between the Tribe and the city. He said he was told the MOU was changed by the city after being agreed to by the parties, including the federal government. Ladouceur said he plans to meet with Brown and Garcia to go over what exactly was changed.

In a telephone interview last week, Brown said the Tribe has not signed the MOU and emphasized that he and representatives of the Tribe are prepared to talk with the city although as of that time they had not been contacted.

We are available, he asserted. He questioned the citys commitment in respecting and preserving Indian burial sites that have been identified in the path of the sewer project.

Why do these people (two burials have been identified) have to be disturbed? he said.

Recognizing that the neighborhoods of Bayside are rich with Native American artifacts, the WSA abandoned plans for a conventional open trench installation of sewers preferring directional drilling. The DAmbra bid calls for directional drilling where pipes are installed without disturbing the upper several feet where there are artifacts.

According to Ladouceur, the WSA postponed a vote on the DAmbra bid to confirm the price and to ensure an extension of the bid that was good until last week. In an Aug. 13 Beacon story, Michael DAmbra, president of the company, said he would extend the bid.

Ladouceur compared the process of Bayside to a jigsaw puzzle and were down to a few last pieces. He said his attention is focused on gaining WSA approval of the DAmbra contract, which would then come before the council for approval.

Meanwhile, the petition initiated by Riverview resident George Shuster and backed by the Riverview Association had gained 85 signatures as of Wednesday, including that of independent candidate for mayor Frank Picozzi, who grew up in the neighborhood and remembers limiting the flushing of the toilet because the cesspool couldnt handle the flow.

The vast majority of the homes in this part of the city are older and many have antiquated septic and cesspool systems. The issue isnt just environmental but its also about the quality of life of the residents and this area has been disregarded long enough. I think the city should be actively informing the area residents and holding meetings to give the people a voice, Picozzi said.

Picozzi lives in the Hoxsie are now and has sewers.

Riverview Association president Kevin Eisemann knows all too well what life without sewers is like.

Because I dont have access to sewers I always have the fear of the possibility of a major failure. If a failure were to occur it would be very expensive and involve the excavation of my entire backyard. My septic system currently works fine but theres always the possibility of having to pump out at a significant cost to me, he said in an email exchange.

He said when he bought his home in 1997 they were told sewers were on the drawing boards and they would be able to connect by 1999.

On the issue of cost, he said if he were to sell his house he was told part of the sale would be held in escrow for either septic system repairs or sewer connections. He guesses the amount would be at least $28,000.

On the other hand, if the sewers were installed, the assessment, which is being projected at about $25,000, could be paid off over 20 years and possibly 30 years depending on the financing bond procured by the WSA.

Our thoughts are the added benefits of sewers is a cleaner bay and adjoining brook. Also a cleaner beach. No more smells coming from overflowing cesspools on rainy days in the neighborhood. Neighbors will be able to use their backyards and gardens during the wet springtime, Eisemann said.

The prospect of further delays on the project with no certainty of when sewers might be built are also the subject of a letter from Shuster appearing in todays Beacon. In it, he appeals to Mayor Solomon: In this election year, its terrific to see you focusing on the neglected Mickey Stevens complex and other high-profile issues. Yet if you really want to show voters that you can deliver on promises, please start with this one thats a quarter-century old tell the WSA that you fully support moving ahead with construction of the Bayside sewer project immediately. And fellow residents, please indicate your support by signing our on-line petition at: www.https://www.change.org/p/riverview-residents-start-construction-of-the-bayside-sewer-project-now.

The paper was unable to reach WSA chair Gary Jarvis for comment.

Excerpt from:
Petitioners call on city to proceed with Bayside sewers - Warwick Beacon

Best Buy boasted its strongest online sales ever as shoppers clicked and bought items such as computers and tablets as they were forced to work, learn and connect remotely from home due to the coronavirus.

Online comparable sales for Best Buys second fiscal quarter jumped 242% to $4.85 billion, beating the Richfield-based retailers previous record of $3.52 billion during last years holiday season.

Even with its stores open only to appointment shopping for nearly half the quarter, its second-quarter comparable sales increased 5%. Overall revenue for May, June and July grew 3.9% to $9.9 billion. Its net earnings increased 81.5% to $432 million.

Despite the positive quarterly news, Best Buys share price fell 4% Tuesday to $112.64.

Best Buys continued digital and changing shopping trends have led the retailer to re-evaluate its fulfillment model, including a new test of hub store locations.

Customer shopping behavior will be permanently changed in a way that is even more digital and puts customers entirely in control to shop how they want, said Corie Barry, Best Buys chief executive, during a call with analysts. Our strategy is to embrace that reality and lead not follow.

Best Buys top retail items were in computing, appliances and tablets.

When most schools shifted to remote learning late last school year, parents likely guided their children to use whichever computing supplies they already had at home, but for the current back-to-school season, parents and students are having to look at more permanent remote learning setups, Barry said.

Now families are trying to create sustainable work and learning spaces in their homes that could support an extended period of time, she said, on a media call.

As stores reopened, more large appliances and home theater products sold. There also was strong digital demand for some of Best Buys newer product additions such as camping equipment and at-home fitness machines.

However, low inventory in categories such as gaming consoles was worse than expected and limited the companys sales growth.

While we expected product constraints as we entered the quarter, the stronger-than-anticipated demand as we opened our stores for shopping resulted in more constrained product availability than we expected, Barry said.

Next month, Best Buy will start a ship-from-store pilot project where about 250 stores will be hubs, shipping out significantly more online orders than normal stores.

Locations were chosen for their space, proximity to carrier partners and ability to support same- and next-day delivery.

The company also is continuing to add more third-party pickup locations for online orders; there already are more than 16,000 locations.

Best Buy is also making changes in how customers can shop, for example adding augmented reality in its phone app and starting another pilot project with a self-service, in-aisle checkout.

Though it was deemed an essential retailer, Best Buy decided to close its stores to foot traffic in late March. In May, stores reopened for scheduled customer appointments and later in mid-June, to regular foot traffic.

Earlier this year, it also furloughed about 51,000 employees, the majority of whom were part-time workers. Best Buy has brought about two-thirds of associates back to work.

Sales have been up about 20% for the first three weeks of the third quarter though company executives are doubtful that those type of numbers will continue throughout the entire quarter. The company did not give guidance, saying the economy is still too uncertain.

Overall, as we plan for the back half of the year, we continue to weigh many factors including potential future government stimulus actions, the current shift in personal consumption expenditures from areas like travel and dining out, the possible depth and duration of the pandemic, the risk of higher unemployment over time, and the availability of inventory to match customer demand, said Best Buy Chief Financial Officer Matt Bilunas.

During the quarter, the company repaid the $1.25 billion loan it had drawn in March, Bilunas said.

Similarly to what executives at Target said last week as the company released its quarterly report, Barry said she believed the holiday shopping season would start earlier at stores, likely around October.

Moodys analyst Charlie OShea called Best Buys quarter impressive on all counts, though he noted that high supply-chain costs continue to be a drag on profits.

While gross profit was down slightly as a result of increased fulfillment and distribution costs due to the online surge and some product mix issues, which included soft mobile sales, operating margin improved dramatically year-over-year, resulting in an operating income increase of over $250 million, OShea said, in a statement.

See the rest here:
Best Buy's online sales more than triple to highest ever but stock still dips - Minneapolis Star Tribune