Anoka mobile home park will close

After years of uncertainty, homeowners and renters in a mobile home park in Anoka are facing the park's closure in the fall.

The owners of Woodlyn Court have struggled with the aging septic system during the past several years and have decided to shut down the park in November. Residents have been left wondering about the future of their homes for years, while the owners contested a Minnesota Department of Health decision in 2005 to revoke the park's license for improper sewage discharge.

"It's a real home to us. We don't even think of it as a mobile home," said Dee Sowada, who has lived in the park for seven years. "This is my house, and now I have to give it up."

Anoka will be the second city to have a mobile home park close since a law was passed in 2007.

The law was designed to protect homeowners in a closure. Under the new law, the park owner must pay to move owner-occupied manufactured homes. But renters, who make up about half of Woodlyn Court's population, will not be eligible for relocation assistance.

At Monday night's Anoka City Council meeting, members approved appointing the Anoka County Community Action Program as the third party administrator of the relocation fund. Anoka passed an ordinance last year that gave protections to homeowners in a closing mobile home park, but the state law will supersede the city's.

"It's a sad situation," Council Member Mark Freeburg said to a packed council chambers. "I don't know what else to do."

Sowada said her home was built in the early 1970s and many parks don't allow homes that old. Even though she recently put new windows and insulation in her home, Sowada said she will likely have to move into an apartment.

"You know what's so sad," she said, through tears. "I'm Grandma Dee to every kid in here, big or small. It's our community."

Margaret Kaplan, an attorney for All Parks Alliance for Change, has worked with residents of Woodlyn Court throughout the process. She said residents have been left out of much of the decision-making since 2004. At one point the residents considered purchasing the park and starting a cooperative, but the cost was too great.

"Ultimately the shame in all of this is the people that are going to be the most hurt are going to be the people who weren't making the decisions," she said.

Mike Wagner, one of the park's owners, told the council Monday night that he has done everything he can to save the park, but he can't afford to connect to the city's water and sewer system, which is estimated to cost up to $500,000. He plans to sell the land after the park closes.

But for residents who must find a new home in the next few months, that's little consolation.

Tammy O'Neil, a mother of two teenagers who has lived at Woodlyn Court for seven years, said she is most worried about stability for her children.

"My son just started high school and he's doing so good," she said, tearing up after Monday's meeting. "I just don't want to move out of Anoka."