Mobile home residents oppose changes to rents
Hazlet ordinance will allow park owners to charge new tenants more
BY DAN NEWMAN
Staff Writer

Bridget Antonucci

HAZLET - Thanks to a vote along party lines, owners of the township's mobile parks are now able to charge market-value rents for lots when new tenants come in to live.

The change to the township's rent control ordinance was approved at the May 15 Township Committee meeting. Owners of mobile homes must pay rent to occupy the piece of property where they live. Those rates were previously capped by township ordinance, but under the new rules, park owners can charge new residents market value rents. The change would be grandfathered so current residents would not have to pay the higher rates.

Over 50 trailer park residents showed up at the nearly three-and-a-half-hour meeting to voice their displeasure over the prospective decision, which didn't come down until near the end of the meeting, which at times got heated.

"It seems like this committee is only in favor of helping the small amount of people that own the trailer homes, and some of them don't even live in this town," Hazlet Trailer Park resident William Lawton said. "This is only going to hurt the residents of the trailer parks around here, some of whom probably voted for you in the last election."

James Dinardo

One trailer park resident suggested that the rent hike was happening because members of the committee were receiving money on the side.

"Do not insult my integrity," Deputy Mayor Kevin Lavan fired back. "We have nothing against anybody who's living in the parks. We also feel like if there's no rent control, that the resale value would be greater."

Many residents said that their reason for living in any of the township's nine trailer parks was because of the affordable rent, ranging in most cases from $250 to $900 per month. Also appropriate was the old adage, "You get what you pay for."

"Some of the parks are not maintained at all," Robin Pierucha of Bayshore Mobile Manor said. "There's issues with snow removal, and the roads are a mess also."

After a barrage of complaints from those who felt they may be in trouble if the ordinance was passed, the committee went into closed session. Upon returning, the complaints continued, even though Mayor James DiNardo repeatedly tried to explain to those gathered that the impact would only be felt by new tenants moving in. The new ordinance covers the current homeowner against major rent hikes.

"For now, things are staying the same," DiNardo said. "And when it does come time for people to leave, and the parks look good and the homes are maintained, then the value of the home will increase."

However, there were plenty of residents in attendance who didn't want to hear it.

"The park is a mess where I live and you're talking about getting out?" asked William Heinzer, a resident at Hazlet Trailer Park. "You ought to look at the craters over there. If this passes, you'd be hurting a lot of people. This is the only affordable housing in the entire town. Why do you want to ruin that?"

DiNardo mentioned that a code enforcement officer would be visiting all parks in the near future to make sure there aren't any major issues. After a while, DiNardo put an end to the stream of people who wanted to comment on the matter and called for a vote, with DiNardo, Lavan and fellow Democrat Joseph Belasco voting in favor of the change to the rent control ordinance. Republicans Michael Sachs and Bridget Antonucci voted against it.

"I feel like this is unjust and unfair, and I cannot vote for this," Antonucci said to a round of applause from the audience.

Following the vote, many residents lamented the fact that things were about to change, in their opinion, not for the better.

"I have no idea why some of these people are even on the Township Committee," said Jim Brady, who could be seen handing out voter registration forms after the meeting. "This doesn't help the people at all. It's strictly about helping a few people who don't even live here."