Set standards for rural homes

For years, residents have complained about poor living conditions at Regency Mobile Home Park in Johnson County.

Finally, it seems something might be done about it.

It's past time for local and state government officials to take action to make sure properties like Regency aren't only affordable but also meet public health, safety and legal standards.

Two ordinances under consideration might do the trick, and supervisors should explore any other reasonable courses of action. One thing's certain: Inaction is not an option.

Recently, the Johnson County Sheriff's Office opened an investigation into the mobile home park, just outside the southern edge of Iowa City.

The move came after The Des Moines Register reported the park had sold old mobile homes without clear titles, and without telling buyers about unpaid back taxes that were owed.

The paper also reported concerns about the park's condition, including water quality and abandoned mobile homes. But residents and officials have known about those and other issues for years.

The Gazette alone has reported no fewer than seven stories in the past four years about poor conditions at the park.

“I don't even feed my animals the water out here,” one resident told a Gazette reporter last fall. Another resident told the reporter she went to friends' homes to bathe rather than use the shower at her mobile home in Regency.

The Iowa City Housing Authority has denied all housing assistance for several years to people living at Regency, which has more than 200 lots, because of living conditions there.

But without a rural housing code, authorities said they weren't able to force the property's owners, the Colorado-based Churchill Group, to clean the place up.

Johnson County Supervisors are considering ordinance changes that would give the county more power to enforce minimum standards of maintenance.

One, a property maintenance ordinance, would allow the county to force owners to take care of nuisance properties. The second is a proposed rental code that would cover county rental properties.

In past years, supervisors have discussed but dismissed the idea of enacting a rural housing code. This time, they should more seriously consider the move.

It may be true that most property owners take decent care of their dwellings and land. But as the chronic problems at Regency have shown, there are exceptions to that rule.

County ordinances would give officials the leverage they need to hold negligent property owners accountable.

Supervisors should act now to ensure all the county's residents are living in properties that meet certain minimum standards.