BROOKINGS — Mobile home owners found an advocate in 30-year resident Luke Davidson on May 12, when he warned the City Council that local owners face hardships that could cost them their homes.
“I am here today to speak about a growing problem affecting some of the most financially vulnerable people in our community: Unpredictable, excessive rent increases in mobile home parks,” he said. “Some residents are seeing increases of 60%. Others are seeing multiple increases in one year due to being on month-to-month leases and due to their parks being bought and sold by ownership groups outside of Brookings and often outside of South Dakota.”
Davidson noted that trailers are often one of the few paths to homeownership for low-income residents. “They often own the home, but they almost always lease the land on a month-to-month basis,” he said.
Moving a trailer can cost up to $20,000 for a double-wide, Davidson noted. “This is prohibitive as a family in this situation likely doesn’t have that kind of liquid capital and cannot get a loan for the move — and, therefore, is at the mercy of their landlords.”
Davidson added that no new trailer parks are being developed and, as such, open spaces are limited to nonexistent.
“Homeowners are essentially trapped,” he said.
Davidson believes people outside of Brookings are buying and selling the mobile home parks to “make quick profits.”
“Each time the park is sold, the rent increases, but the new owners provide no new services or benefits to the people living there,” he said. “They often in fact see services decline.”
Looking beyond the financial toll, Davidson brought up water issues as well, noting that several mobile home parks have received notices from Brookings Municipal Utilities.
“The park owners have done nothing to signal they’ll work to solve this problem, and we see a potential snowball effect,” he claimed.
Eric Witt, the water/wastewater and engineering manager with BMU, told The Brookings Register that letters had, indeed, been sent to 500 residents in several mobile home parks. The letters focused on the material used in the service lines rather than water quality. BMU cannot access or inspect these lines because the water distribution systems within the mobile home parks are privately owned and connect only to main BMU feeds.
Davidson then returned to the human impact, noting that residents on fixed or low incomes cannot absorb sudden increases or afford to move.
“Lot rent is still lower than the cost of a two- to three-bedroom apartment, so selling their home and moving to a rental often is not an option,” he said. “Families are being forced to choose between essentials and housing.”
Davidson pointed out that the issue affects the entire community.
“It affects affordable housing stability for the entire city. These practices can lead to increased homelessness or displacement and abandonment of homes,” he said.
Davidson said that while there are “good actors” — including the McClemans family, which owns Sunny Meadows where Davidson lives — even then mobile home owners still face uncertainties due to month-to-month leases.
Solutions
It wasn’t just a list of concerns Davidson brought to the City Council, either, but possible solutions from his perspective — ones that took into account South Dakota Codified Law 6-1-13, which prohibits cities from controlling the rent of private residential properties unless the city has a property interest — including:
• The city could buy a mobile home park or two, using the lot rental income to pay off the loan and, in turn, keep the rent stable or link it to inflation.
• The city could implement a requirement for year-long leases while not directly controlling the rent.
• The city could require that mobile home park owners provide 90- to 180-day notices.
• The city could require that management or ownership groups have an onsite person within Brookings who is available during normal business hours.
• The city could implement an ordinance giving mobile home park residents the right of first refusal on the sale of a park, or the ability to collectively bargain to buy the park.
“In summary, I ask that the city do something — anything — to help prevent profit-hungry outside groups from displacing low-income families in Brookings,” Davidson concluded.
His presentation drew a response from Councilor Brianna Doran, who doesn’t want the issue to fade away now that it’s been in the spotlight.
“I just wanted to take a moment to thank Mr. Davidson for bringing up an important community issue,” she said. “I think there’s a lot to consider that was provided to us on a local and state level. I want to encourage the council through internal discussions — as well as just the city in general — with conversations with our economic and community partners. I do think that this is a conversation that should continue.”
In other business
Also at their May 12 meeting, councilors:
• Heard a proclamation declaring National Public Works Week, which starts May 17 and runs through May 23. City Engineer Charlie Richter spoke about the importance of public works employees, and a number of them were on hand for the recognition ceremony.
Members of the Brookings City Council mingle with Public Works staffers during the City Council meeting on May 12. The staffers were being recognized as part of the upcoming National Public Works Week, which runs from May 17 through May 23.
The public is invited to an open house on May 20 from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at the City Street Division shop at 125 Seventh Ave. There, residents can learn about projects, meet the team and get a closeup look at the department’s equipment. Hot dogs and popcorn will be available to dine on, too.
• In a joint meeting with the Brookings County Commission, approved, on a 6-0 vote with Mayor Oepke “Ope” Niemeyer absent, a change to the Joint Jurisdiction Ordinance that would reduce the required notice for a public hearing from 14 days prior to 10 days prior to the public hearing.
The County Commission agreed to the change as well on a 4-0 vote, with Commissioner Doug Post absent.
• Approved a $1,939,086.05 bid from Bowes Construction for the city’s asphalt maintenance project this year on a 6-0 vote. The bid came in well under budget, which was almost $2.7 million.
• Formally OK’d, again on a 6-0 vote, the transfer of $13.4 million from the City Council Financial Policy Projects Fund to the Brookings Police Station Facility Capital Project Fund for project-related expenses.
When completed, the work will result in a new headquarters for the BPD near the Dacotah Bank Center. It took the city years to build up its reserves to help pay for the project.
• Approved, all on 6-0 votes, a variety of alcohol-related licenses, including renewals for three businesses with multiple violations in the last 24 months.
Those businesses — two Casey’s General Store locations at 620 Eighth St. S. and 534 22nd Ave. S., each with two violations, along with the Sodexo-operated McCrory Gardens Educational Center at Sixth Street and 22nd Avenue, with three violations — have undertaken steps to ensure compliance, with no violations recorded since October.
• Updated the city’s rules pertaining to home occupations on a 6-0 vote. Changes include introducing a new “no-impact” category, removing occupation-based lists and establishing an intensity-based framework for classification purposes.
• On two 6-0 votes, approved rezoning portions of land owned by Heron Cove LLC at 1120 Western Ave., and to also OK preliminary platting for Lots 1 through 3 at the same address.
Jacob Mills, a representative for Heron Cove LLC, told councilors current work is limited to preliminary dirt grading.
— Contact Mondell Keck at [email protected].
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