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Options are scarce for Alpine Woods tenants

Laveaka Harmon describes her trailer as a 'barn.'

Although more than a dozen agencies and government departments are trying to help tenants of the Alpine Woods trailer park, the lack of low-priced options suggests a long road ahead, officials in the affordable housing field said.


The Hendersonville Lightning reported last week on conditions at the 80-unit park off Howard Gap Road including a lack of water and central heat, holes in the walls and flooring, noise and domestic fights and hundreds of 911 calls of reported crimes.
The city has condemned eight units at Alpine Woods and as tenants move out it is conducting inspections that could lead to more condemnations, Zoning Administrator Susan Frady said.
During a hearing last Tuesday on the condemnations, park owner Warren Newell offered a variety of explanations for the trailers’ conditions and explained how he planned to remedy them. Among the cases, according to city records:

  • Newell said he “tore off the illegal addition” to one unit. “This one he had to foreclose on. The guy was a drug addict and he had to throw them out.”
  • Newell said he would remove illegal additions to a unit at 17 Duck Walk Trail. Frady said the unit would have to be vacated and inspected before a new tenant could move in.
  • Newell said he planned to tear down the condemned unit at 242 Adeles Way. “Based on the evidence in the file, (Frady) ordered the unit demolished within 30 days.”
  • The trailer at 263 Adeles Way was damaged by fire when a ceiling fan shorted out. Newell said the tenants were four months behind on rent. Frady said the repair would require an electrical permit. The trailer would need a minimum housing inspection before it could be occupied.
  • Newell said he planned to demolish the unit at 63 Warrens Run Drive. Frady ordered demolition within 30 days.
  • The trailer at 13 Captains Circle was condemned on March 6. “Ms. Frady understands that they are working on getting heat to the unit,” minutes of the hearing said. Frady said the owner would have to pull permits and allow inspections before the unit could be occupied.

Among the agencies that are either working to inspect conditions or trying to help tenants are the city of Hendersonville, the city and county legal departments, the county Health and Social Services departments, Henderson County schools, the Sugarloaf Elementary School guidance office, Pisgah Legal Services, the Salvation Army, the Housing Assistance Corp., Homeward Bound, which helps find affordable housing; and the 211 information and referral service.
At the 211 call center, case managers have been alerted to the ongoing crisis.
Specialists are now trained to “ask callers from that zip code if they live in Alpine Woods,” an official there reported. If they have a concern, the callers are referred to Pisgah Legal Services and directly to Carrie (Israel) at Salvation Army.”


Alpine Woods no surprise

AlpineOutsideThe revelations about Alpine Woods have been no surprise to the agency leaders who work in housing for working families. A survey conducted by Bowen National Research showed that Henderson County had no vacant units of affordable housing. Alpine Woods is still able to charge $460 a month for units in poor condition because few decent units exist at that price.
“All of these issues tie back to this issue of affordable housing and when you get the rare opportunity to develop some brand new units the community really needs to jump on that opportunity because the resources are just becoming less and less available,” said Noelle McKay, executive director of the Housing Assistance Corp.
The Bowen report, she pointed out, showed that 16 percent of rental units are mobile homes.
“Some of those mobile home parks are well run, others are not,” she said. “They’ve been one of the larger suppliers of the affordable housing around here and as they age out, then what? The issue is compounding the need to create more affordable housing and in the long term raising the question of what is going to be our policy on manufactured housing.
“This is one development that’s particularly bad but as time goes by we’re going to see more and more that face these issues,” McKay said.
Ralph FreemanRalph FreemanRalph Freeman, a former Hendersonville City Council member who is familiar with the Alpine Woods situation, confirmed that upkeep of rental housing is costly and time-consuming.
“We have a small trailer park in East Flat Rock that we’ve owned almost 10 years,” he said. “We continually are upgrading and rehabbing and every time a tenant moves out we generally repaint and do an upgrade to make sure everything is in working order and clean and safe. It’s not a house at Kenmure, that’s for sure, but it is livable and safe and clean.”
The cost of a stick-built house and the land under it are so high in Henderson County that trailers are often the only option for a monthly rent under $600.
“If I go out and pay $100,000 for a residential house, I can’t rent that for $500 or $600 a month,” Freeman said. “The banks won’t allow me to do that. If you buy an acre of land you certainly can’t put one (mobile home) on there and make it work. You’d have to put four or five on there.”
“It’s a real problem and it’s a heart-wrenching concern for me that there are some good families out there that are having to be subject to such deplorable conditions,” he said.

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Carrie Israel, director of social services for the Salvation Army, has known about Alpine Woods for a long time. She had a referral last week from the 211 service.
“One family moved out and is in a shelter in Polk County,” she said. “People come in here seeking assistance with power bills. I will assist them if they qualify and they’re eligible for assistance.”
One thing she won’t do is help with rent if the tenant plans to stay at Alpine Woods.
“If they come in and they have an eviction notice from Mr. Newell, we’re not helping to pay their rent,” she said. “I don’t want to help someone stay in those intolerable conditions.”
Despite efforts to get water to the units at Alpine Woods, residents told a reporter on Monday that service was spotty.
“From what I just heard they busted a pipe,” said Laveaka Harmon, 21, who moved into Alpine Woods a month ago after paying $860 for a security deposit and first month’s rent. She stood on her porch, lamenting her move. The unit has two electric space heaters. “I just lost money because he gave me a barn pretty much,” she said.