Johnson County Supervisors want public meeting with mobile home park owner Havenpark

IOWA CITY — The Johnson County Board of Supervisors is requesting an in-person public meeting with Utah-based Havenpark Communities, owner of mobile home parks across the county, as residents push for a two-year moratorium on rent increases due to concerns over park conditions.

The request comes after Havenpark, in a letter addressed to the supervisors last week, agreed to a meeting. The company and the supervisors have been exchanging letters for months.

“I think that just by having received this letter, requesting a meeting, that gives us the initiative to open the discussion on what that meeting might look like. … We will get this out the door, hopefully in such a way that it does bring Havenpark to Johnson County to look some folks in the eye,” said supervisors board Chair Jon Green.

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Residents voice concerns over park conditions

Johnson County Residents United, a group that advocates for safe conditions in mobile home parks, has voiced concerns over rent increases, questionable water quality and poor park maintenance at Havenpark-owned properties.

Johnson County Affordable Housing Coalition — which works with Johnson County Residents United — requested help from the board of supervisors in May after the groups said communication with Havenpark had been inconsistent.

Since then, the board has sent multiple letters reiterating its request that Havenpark implement a two-year moratorium on lot rent increases, to allow time for Havenpark to address resident concerns.

Throughout the back and forth with the supervisors Havenpark has said it addressed resident concerns with $2.1 million in improvements, and more on the way, across Sunrise Village, Modern Manor and Lake Ridge Estates.

Havenpark has not agreed to the two-year rent moratorium, pointing to rising costs.

“We remain committed to investing in the communities we serve. While costs, including taxes and other operating expenses, continue to rise, we are also focused on delivering meaningful improvements for residents, and we are always open to hearing ways we can do better,” Havenpark Senior Vice President of Operations Jerry Fenstermaker wrote in a letter to the board.

Meeting location and date still to be determined

At a work session Wednesday morning, the board agreed that representatives from Johnson County Residents United should be present at the meeting.

But other details, such as when the meeting will take place, or whether it would be in person or virtual, have yet to be ironed out.

“(Having a public meeting) might sort of increase that encouragement to really make some positive actions on the steps that we've outlined earlier that actually are invisible to people that are living in these places. … but I don't know if there would be willingness on the other end, it's taken a while to get to this point,” said Supervisor Lisa Green-Douglass

The board ultimately came to the consensus to request an in-person public meeting with Havenpark, but would be amendable to other settings to ensure resident concerns are addressed.

“I just want to make sure that, as we're thinking about it, if it's big, if it's small, if it's closed, if it's open, at the end of the day, we're really looking for positive change for residents, whoever will get that biggest impact to actually improve the quality of lives of the residents in Johnson County. That's the aim of the game,” said Jessica Andino, executive director of the Johnson County Affordable Housing Coalition.

Comments: megan.woolard@thegazette.com

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