Regency Mobile Home Park fined by state

The owner of Regency Mobile Home Park has been fined by the state for air-quality violations detected last year.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources fined Regency of Iowa Inc. $7,500 for issues at the company's mobile home parks just south of Iowa City and another in Huxley.

In August 2009, a DNR environmental specialist investigated a complaint about a demolition project at Regency Mobile Home Park in rural Johnson County, according to an administrative consent order issued this week. The DNR employee found six mobile homes in various stages of demolition, but the homes had not been tested for asbestos and a demolition notification had not been submitted.

The DNR employee said the demolitions had to stop until asbestos inspections could be completed. He later found that the park manager had the debris taken to the Iowa City landfill without treating it for asbestos, as required.

The violations in Huxley also involved asbestos and the demolition of mobile homes last year.

Regency denied it violated any rule, regulation or statute governing air quality but agreed to the provisions in the consent order in the interest of avoiding litigation, according to the order.

Regency's corporate owner is Colorado-based Churchill Group. Company officials could not be reached for comment Friday. They have not responded to several phone messages left in recent months.

Residents have long complained about rundown conditions at Regency Mobile Home Park in Johnson County, including abandoned homes and piles of debris. In large part because of that, the Johnson County Board of Supervisors is exploring enacting a property maintenance code aimed at nuisance properties.

Regency also is currently being investigated by the Iowa Attorney General's Office and the Johnson County Sheriff's Department for consumer-fraud complaints.

The DNR has fined Regency's Johnson County park before, mostly for issues relating to water quality.