CENTERVILLE — A different kind of protest hit the Beehive State on Monday as residents lined the street outside the offices of CW Land, a developer with plans to build a modern community laden with town homes, tennis courts and racquetball in the Davis County town.
But the property CW Land is hoping to buy is currently home to the Centerville Mobile Estates, a small community just off of I-15 that roughly 45 people call home. One of the only affordable housing options in Centerville, residents have spent much of the past two months voicing opposition to city officials, starting petitions and pleading with CW Land to reconsider the purchase.
Just shy of 40 people braved the 90 degree heat Monday, cheering as passing cars honked and holding signs that read “Trailer park people matter too!” “CW Land has devastated our community” and “Don’t make us homeless.”
“I don’t think it’s right for them to come in and take everyone’s homes,” said Shaunna Summers, who has lived on and off at the Centerville Mobile Estates her entire life.
An office assistant at nearby Steward Elementary School, Summers told the Deseret News she can’t afford to live anywhere else in Centerville.
“I don’t want to leave Centerville, but if we can’t save our home we’ll have to move,” she said.
Tess Hoskins, who has lived in the park for the past 30 years, echoed Summers’ concerns, saying she was there to support her neighbors who she fears will be homeless if forced to move.
Hoskins spent the past 15 years tied to a $70,000 mortgage for her double-wide trailer, and in 2018 she finally paid it off. But now, unable to afford the cost of moving the trailer, she would have to leave it behind and move in with her mother. But Hoskins was far more concerned about the well-being of her neighbors.
“I’m here for my neighbors that don’t have anywhere to go,” she said. “At least we have somewhere we can go, but some of my neighbors don’t.”
The residents first learned of the proposed acquisition in March when they received a notice from an attorney representing Centerville Mobile Estates LLC telling them they had nine months — the allotted time required under the Mobile Home Park Residency Act — to leave.
“I immediately lost it,” Jennifer Pace told the Deseret News in May. “I thought, ‘What are we going to do?’”
On Monday Pace held a sign reading “My family is worth more than $2,000,” a reference to CW Land’s offer to each resident who moves out on Oct. 1 — the designated early move-out date.
Darlene Carter, CW Urban president, said in a statement residents will receive more information as the company lays out plans in the coming weeks.
“We are sensitive to the plight of the residents who will need to relocate. We realize the seriousness of the situation and, following our purchase of the real property, we will be fully committed to assisting the residents, logistically and financially, to find new housing arrangements,” the statement reads.
A representative from CW Urban did not elaborate as to how the company will help, and many residents protesting Monday expressed frustration that the company has not reached out.
“We’ve heard nothing from that company,” Summers said. “They say they’re going to communicate, but we’ve heard nothing.”
Wednesday the park’s owners and CW Land will enter mediation over whether the park can actually be sold. Rulon Harrison, one of the park’s owners, “didn’t consent to the sale, and he opposes the sale,” his attorney Jordan Bledsoe said Monday.
Instead, Bledsoe said, Harrison’s siblings are the driving force behind the sale, two of whom have sold their membership. Whether Harrison’s siblings have the authority to sell should be determined during Wednesday’s mediation.
“Rulon’s primary goal here is to keep this a mobile home park,” Bledsoe said. “He’s the only sibling that really knows the tenants well. He’s gotten to know them ... he’s grown close to them and he really likes them. He tells me he thinks they’re all great people and he really does not want them to lose their homes.”