Site owner asks residents to move
Photo 
Shady Hill Mobile Home Park
BRADFORD TOWNSHIP — The owner of Shady Hills Mobile Home Park has sent a letter to the owners of 30 mobile homes telling them they must move to make room for new mobile homes and new roads.
That was not the town of Bradford’s intent in 2008 when it filed a lawsuit against the site’s owner, David Merriam of Madison. The town wanted Merriam to move a mobile home near the entrance to the park, which is on Creek Road near the intersection of Highway 140.
The park is three miles north of Clinton.
The town also wanted Merriam to come up with a plan to improve the park’s layout and replace aging mobile homes through attrition, town board Chairman Ron Duffy said.
Rock County Judge Ken Forbeck in September 2009 in a summary judgment ruled that the mobile home near the park entrance did not encroach on the town’s right-of-way and the town could not demand it be moved. Forbeck also ruled that the mobile home park was a nonconforming use and was not under the authority of the town’s mobile home ordinance, according to court documents.
The town appealed Forbeck’s decisions. The last of the legal documents were filed earlier this month in the state court of appeals and the case awaits a decision, according to online documents.
The town and other officials have had concerns about the development’s safety for several years, Duffy said.
Clinton Fire District Chief John Rindfleisch has said the roads toward the back third are too narrow for fire equipment, Duffy said Tuesday during a town board meeting.
“They have to stop and physically take hoses down to the individual units,” Duffy said.
The town in June asked Merriam to come up with a plan to reconfigure the mobile home units as owners move out as he agreed to do in a June meeting, according to an April 7 letter to Merriam from town attorney David Moore.
But as of this time, Merriam hasn’t responded to the letter or come up with a plan, Duffy said.
Many of the site’s residents are not native English speakers and are low-income earners, Duffy wrote in a letter to Clinton Community School District Administrator Randy Refsland.
“The town board wants you to know that it has no desire to cause any residents of the mobile home park to lose their homes,” Duffy wrote in the letter.
In an undated letter obtained by the Gazette, Merriam listed 30 mobile homes that are to be removed. The owners can remove the mobile homes or abandon them, according to the letter. Merriam will not buy any mobile homes.
“Most of you have been good tenants, and we will be glad to consider your offers on the new trailers when they come in,” according to the letter.
Apr 22, 2011 at 1:02 p.m.
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gma - I'm not sure the government is "going after anyone" in this case. The town did want a plan to see mobile homes replaced and moved. But the town did not intend for the park owner to kick anyone out.
Does that make sense?
Reporter Ann Marie Ames
Apr 21, 2011 at 6:30 p.m.
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My gripe is when local government goes after those who are just "barely" keeping their heads above water. And as the article is written, these people own THEIR MOBILE HOMES. How is this justified? Apply this scenario to when the gov't wants to put a road through your land. They will TAKE your land and the family homestead that might have raised 4 generations. This has got to stop. These are not wealthy families. Can we just STOP beating down the impoverished, when they must struggle EVERY DAY, to feed their children?
This makes me sick to my stomach!
Apr 21, 2011 at 3:54 p.m.
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WOW easy to get comments removed today. All I was trying to say is that since the "not native English speakers and low-income earners" have moved into the park over the past few years they have been better neighbors than the native english speaking residents.
Apr 21, 2011 at 2:31 p.m.
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WOW that is a total fire disaster ..HOw was this allowed in the first place...
Apr 21, 2011 at 9:59 a.m.
Apr 21, 2011 at 2:04 a.m.
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It's landlocked, and an aerial view shows how crowded the back part of the park is.
http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=r2z...
.
It does seem like the township is being reasonable, and the property owner precipitous, probably so he can blame it on the township.
Apr 20, 2011 at 8:25 p.m.
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I think, what the reporter is trying to convey, is that for some of the residents, english is not their first language, and may not understand what is happening in the letter or in conversations with the park owner.
I think that this is another case of NIMBY politics.
Apr 20, 2011 at 6:49 p.m.
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Sounds like when this trailer park first opened, the roads were similar to "camping grounds", which means the roads are very narrow so emergency personnel can not reach every unit. I'm making an assumption that his property is not large enough to simply open up more land and move the homes to a more advantageous area, to be able to widen the roads for emergency vehicles.
What home owner would be willing to simply "abandon" their home? I am again making the assumption that these are low income families. A blight on these families could potentially make them homeless. How can this be ok?
This seems to me, to be a case of the haves vs. the have nots. The township residents consider the mobile home park to be an eyesore. This is reading between the lines, I know, but these families deserve to be treated with dignity. And I don't give a da** what language they speak... how is this even an issue for this story? Disgusting!
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