JAY — When JoAn Gray moved to a mobile home park on Lambert Street 12 years ago, she figured it would be the last time she would have to move.
Now 82, Gray is worried that a recent $50 a month lot rent increase could be just the beginning of higher costs. Her park recently sold, and she’s worried out of state owners won’t keep up with needed improvements.
“I know there are people in that park that are barely skimping by right now,” Gray said. “This to me is really scary.”
Gray is one of several mobile home park residents who hope their local select board will implement a moratorium to slow down lot rent increases. Waterville and Sanford have taken similar actions in recent months.
Following Monday’s Jay Select Board meeting, Town Manager Shiloh LaFreniere said she will be consulting with legal counsel about ways the town can help park residents.
Those who live in Pine Haven, Lambert Street and Hidden Circle parks are working with the Western Maine Labor Council to try to keep local housing affordable.
For Hidden Circle resident Tanya Dwyer, the $325 a month lot rent is only part of the cost. In her 37-lot park, residents also have to pay for water, and they are constantly battling sewer system problems.
“Nothing is being done,” she said. “They are just sitting on their thumbs, collecting our money while we suffer.”In Maine, 8% of housing units are mobile homes and statewide, 45,000 Maine residents live in licensed mobile home communities, according to a March report by The Genesis Fund. The report notes that lot rents “vary significantly” across the state, with the median lot rent at $550.
That’s on top of other fees some parks charge for pets, sheds, parking, and laundry, according to Genesis. Also, residents typically pay for their own utilities and internet.
In Jay, concerns over the cost of housing come as the area continues to struggle following the closure of the local paper mill, said former Senate President Troy Jackson, a Democrat who is running for governor next year.
Jackson said he will stand with the mobile home park residents as they fight for fairness.
“This, what’s going on tonight, is unfair, it’s not right and we can do better than this in the state of Maine,” he said. “I say that now is the time that we take on these interests here in Maine.”
Another way to help combat rising lot rents is for residents to form a cooperative and purchase the park. That’s been successful in other parts of Maine, including Thomaston, Augusta, Bangor and Veazie.
Dwyer and others at Hidden Circle have formed a cooperative and hope to eventually buy the park.
“Then we can fix these issues that we’re having, and we won’t have to deal with someone outside trying to up our rent and all of use lose our home,” she said. “There’s some people in our mobile home park that are elderly, that are taking care of their family members that are wheelchair bound. It’s not fair for any of us.”