Larraine Shearrer invested her entire life savings in her mobile home. And the 70-year-old grandmother hoped she would spend the rest of her life with her poodle, Pierre, in the Meadows Mobile Home Estates in Cottonwood Heights, nestled between luxury homes.
But the land her home sits on was sold — right out from under her.
"This was it. I thought I'd settle and wait my days out here. I worked hard on having a nice place," Shearrer told a Deseret News reporter several years ago. "And now they'll just come in with a bulldozer and take everything down. I don't know where I'm going to go."
More and more parks will close as land along the Wasatch and other fast-growing areas of Utah becomes more valuable (Since 2002, 13 known park closures occurred in 10 cities across the state). Thousands of Utahns just like Mrs. Shearrer will be affected. In 2000, Utah had 83,534 people living in mobile/manufactured homes. Many are seniors. Most have modest and, quite often, fixed incomes.
Salt Lake Democrats Rep. Phil Riesen and Sen. Karen Mayne have introduced a proposal, “Mobile Home Owners’ Rights” HB 48, intended to soften the impact of moving for mobile-home owners.
The bill would require park owners to give mobile home owners 365 days notice of planned change of land use or condemnation.
The bill has the support of:
• The League of Cities and Towns Policy Council;
• The Salt Lake County Council of Governments;
• Mayor Kelvin Cullimore of Cottonwood Heights and Mayor Russ Wall of Taylorsville;
• Salt Lake Community Action Program, Utah Housing Coalition, UCAPA, and Utah Resident Owned Communities;
Read the bill, comment on it, or follow its progress toward becoming law.
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