Free Daily Headlines

News

Set your text size: A A A

City OKs redevelopment of Sugarloaf trailer park

New owners won permission from the city to redevelop a trailer park on Sugarloaf Road for new manufactured homes.


Although the Hendersonville City Council on Thursday OK'd development permits for  the project, council members expressed sympathy for the fate of about nine remaining mobile home residents who will likely be forced to move. They asked the developers to do all they can to work with those homeowners in relocation.
The 31-unit mobile park, now known as Whiteside’s Green Acres, has nine occupied house trailers, six vacant trailers and 16 vacant pads. The existing units will be removed in order to run sewer lines for the new project, said Hunter Marks, the engineer for project developers Cheria and Billy Duncan. The homes, from Premier Homes of the Carolinas, will have a starting price of around $70,000, Marks said. The development will remain a 55-plus neighborhood.
“They’re not going to be larger, they’re going to be newer,” Marks said of the mobile homes. “Some will be larger, some will not.”
The trailer park’s septic system is failing and needs to be replaced with city sewer, he said. Connection to the city sewer line requires the landowner to agree to be annexed into the city. The site plan shows a sidewalk on Sugarloaf Road and landscaping required by city code. Besides interior and property line setback variances, the council approved a variance allowing six units on lots smaller than 4,000 square feet, the smallest of which would be 3,600 square feet. The council's action reduced property line setbacks from 30 feet to 20 feet along the south property line, 10 feet on the western and northern boundaries and 8 feet on the eastern boundary, and trimmed the road width requirement from 25 to 20 feet, the width of the existing road.
Earl Allison, who has a newer trailer, has plans to move his mobile home to a lot in Buncombe County but says he's one of the lucky ones. He asked the council whether it was possible to have some of his costs covered — and that of his neighbors.

“These ladies here can’t move their trailers because they’re too old,” Allison said. “They’re just going to have to pack their bags and walk out. I can move mine and it’s going to cost $3,000 to $4,000 to get it moved.”
Council members urged the Duncans to do everything they can to help the residents.
“There are at least seven people and their families in a very difficult spot,” Councilman Jerry Smith said. “I just want to see that whatever protection can be given to them is provided to them.”
Councilman Jeff Miller offered to give the remaining tenants his personal cellphone and email and promised to follow up as they tried to relocate.

“I’ll just take this on, because I brought it up,” he said.
Cheria Duncan assured the council that she and her husband are doing everything they can to be fair to the residents. They’re extending the deadline for them to relocate by 30 days, to 120 days. They hosted two meetings at city Fire Station No. 2 across the road from Green Acres and they have tried to connect residents with businesses that move trailers, she said.
“We are spending a tremendous amount of money out-of-pocket to improve this community,” she said. “There is no way of keeping this community with a lot of old dated mobile homes in the midst of new homes moving in.
“I know it’s difficult and it really tugs at my heart for these folks but we are going to do everything we possibly can to help these folks relocate or sell their homes.”