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3.5. SR 02-03-1997ity of iver TO: FROM: DATE: SUBJECT: MEMORANDUM Mayor and City Council Steve Ach, City Planner-~~ February 3, 1997 Elk Terrace Mobile Home Park Case No. GP 96-2 ITEM 3.5. Request Consider motion to continue action on Elk Terrace Mobile Home Park to the February 18, 1997 City Council meeting. Overview At the January 21st City Council meeting, the Council received further testimony from the park owner of Elk Terrace Mobile Home Park as well as the residents. At the conclusion of this meeting, staff and the city attorney were directed to prepare 2 ordinances for closure of the mobile home park that the Council could consider at a scheduled February 3rd City Council meeting. Due to the amount of information that is being collected to prepare these ordinances, additional time is necessary prior to meeting with the City Council to discuss these ordinances. Recommendation It is recommended the City Council continue action on the Elk Terrace Mobile Home Park public hearing to the February 18, 1997 City Council meeting beginning at 7:00 p.m. * Staff has sent letters to each of the mobile home park residents notifying them of this change of meeting date. s:XcouncilXgp96-2xx.doc 13065 Orono Parkway · P.O. Box 490 · Elk River, MN 55330 · (612) 441-7420 · Fax: (612) 441-7425 ~i~ of iver January 28, 1997 Dear Elk Terrace Manufactured Home Court Resident: At the January 21, 1997 City Council meeting, the Council continued the public hearing for the closure of the mobile home park to the February 3, 1997 Council meeting. Due to the amount of information staff and the City Attorney are researching to present to the City Council, the meeting has been rescheduled to February 18th at 7:00 p.m. If you have any questions prior to the meeting on February 18th, please feel free to call me at 441-4902. Sincerely, City Planner 13065 Orono Parkway · P.O. Box 490 · Elk River, MN 55330 · (612) 441-7420 · Fax: (612) 441-7425 11/19/1998 21:10 &122950318 NEIGHBORHOOD CONNECT PAGE 01 JOHN L FiACGIBBON ~1 L P.O. BOX MOI~i'ICEU, O, ~ 553d~2 TELEPHOME 295-4;~,d;7 AREA CODE January 24, 1997 Mr. David C. Sellergren Doherty, Rumble & Bolten 150 So. 5th St. #3500 Minneapolis, MN 55402-4235 Earl and Lorraine Hohlen City of Elk River Dear Mr. Sellergren: I understand your instructions from the City Council of the City of Elk River being to draft two Ordinances each requiring payment by the Hohiens to the residents of the park of either the assessed value or.the appraised value of his or her manufactured home, after which payment the title to the homes would still belong to the resident. This is an unique approach to the problem of closure of a manufactured home park, at best, and may raise some constitutional problems on the negative side. Hohlens' present mind set on the closure issue would be that of acceptance of the so-called "buy out" approach. If they could have the title to the homes they purchased. Very truly yours, y ohn E. Mac Gibbon JEM/bv Wednesday, January 29, 1997 / Elk River Star News / 5 City considers two laws to deal with park closin'g by Joni Astrup Associate editor Dis/urbed over Earl Hohlen's lack of progress in negotJa~ng with residents of his mobile home park, the Elk River City Council has unnulmously ordered two ordJnnnces to be · One ordinance would allow residents to be paid the appraised value of their home plus $900 in moving costs. · The other ordlunnce would allow residents to be paid the assessed value of their mobile home plus $900 in moving costs. They also could keep the title to their home. But City Attorney" David · Sellergren cautioned the city that he would 'have to research that option... "That doesn't feel quit~ right to me;" he told the council last Duitsman MacGibbon extensive sum of money." "There's no way that he (Hohlen) can sit down and write a check for the sum total of all the'se numbers," Mac- Gibbon told the City Council. 'If it comes to ~hat, then this enterprise or project,~I thlnk~ is doomed." .:_ · Hohlen 'has a purchase· · agreement with' Associated Developers, but MacGibbon said the deal has not yet come to closing.. -ti fi - week. It might be one way to "The vibrations I hear !i get to'a reasonable ~n~ncial. tonight suggest we tr~y not 5:[ setflemenf~ but it might be an come to a closing," MacGibbon egal. · ' way." '~ told the council. ill'he ordjnnnces were to b~b Park tenants in the audience considered by the City Council[ b]~med Hohlen and. Mac- ~i& )nFeb. 3. But Monday night,[ Gibbon for the lack of the City Council ch~_nged the[ progress. '.. mee~n~ date to Feb. 18 at 7~ Tenant Heather Bergnmn p.m. ~ ' .' . ' ~said re.ny residents have met The city is wai~ng in the " 'wings as Earl and LorrMr~. Hohlen and their attorney, John MacGibbon, attempt to negot.~ate with residents so the Elk Terrace Mobile Home -" Park can be closed to m~ke · way for a commercial develop-' ment.' The l~ailer park is located at the corner of Highway 169 and Main Street in Elk River. MacGibbon told the City Council last week ~hat at the rate negotiations with ~rmnts are going, the nmt~er won't be settled by the targeted closure date of June 24, 1997. ii'He said the I-Iohlens have met with a 'good manf' of the residents, who have furnished them with what they feel would be a fair buy-out price. He said +.h~_t total is 'an' with MacGibbon and given him the figures he asked for, but negotiations have not hap- pened. Tenant Duane Lundeen said Hohlen told him and ter~nt Curt Julius ~hat he would buy them out, but ha~n't. "Didn't he, Curt? Didn't he?" Lundeen asked Julius. Weah, he did," Julius replied. · ' ~That;s a lie, boy, and you know it," Hohlen responded i~rom the audience. And so it went More than 30 mobile homes remain in the park. The assessed value of the homes is es~mnted in the $325,000 rnnge. MacGibbon told the council that the Hohlen's have been offered $1.25 per. square foot for their land, which includes the eight-acre trailer park. For the trailer park alone, that would amount to a selling price of about $450,000. 'You've got no one else to blame but yourself' Whether the city wi].[ step in and determine what is a fair payment for park tenants renmins to be seen. "This is a no-win situation for the City Council because this is not a development that the city is pushing in any manner or form whatsoever," Mayor Hank Dultsrrmn told park tenants at last week's council mee~ng. 'Ifs strictly a matter between Earl and you people. It doesn't seem. like you're being treated fairly but. · . I don't .think the City Council is in a position to determine what a fair payoffis for you people." The City Council held a pub- lic healing on the park closure in November, as required by s~te law. .'. The council agreed in November to revisit the issue in January and had hoped to see some progress in negotia- tions between Hoh]en and his tenants. "We gave you this time to come up with a proposal and you're coming here with noth- ing, actually, tonight," Duits- man told MacGibbon and Hohlen. ' But MacGibbon Said the ~act that they don't have a solu- tion, doesn't mean there has: n't been work done on the issue. Duitsman, however, wasn't moved. ~You're forcing the city to m~ke a solution tonight," he told MacGibbon. "That solu- tion, I don't ~.hlnk, is golruj to be beneficial to your'client if the project doesn't go for- ward because of ttmt, I think you've got no one else to blame but yourself."