Planned development has mobile home park residents uncertain about their fate

It’s a muggy Monday night, and lawn chairs sit around a glass-top table outside Cindy Floyd’s trailer at the Kentucky Gardens Mobile Home Park, where a meeting of the BG Mobile Homeowners United advocacy group is taking place.

During the meeting, as she watches a group of children play basketball on the nearby street, Floyd expresses worries about her children as they will soon have to move out of the park.

“We have responsibilities to these children to give them a lifestyle they deserve,” Floyd tells the group.

The land on which the mobile home park sits, with some ancillary properties, was purchased by Joy and Eddie Hanks in 2020 for $600,000, with plans to redevelop the park into “Digs on the River,” a 23-acre mixed use area with plans for apartments, a restaurant and commercial space.

Residents were originally told they had to move out of the park sometime after July 31, a date that was later pushed until March 31, 2025.

“So far, we’ve provided two years,” Joy Hanks told to the Daily News in emailed answers to questions. “There’s a possibility of extending it beyond that date.”

She said the reason for the extension was to “make sure each phase of our project is done right.”

“While we’re getting ready for the next phase, we’ve decided to let residents continue renting a bit longer.”

Under Kentucky law, before a trailer can be moved to a new location, it must be inspected to see if it meets current building codes – most mobile homes constructed before 1976 do not.

This is the case for many of the trailers in Kentucky Gardens. Last year, Chris Davenport, an attorney representing the Hankses, told the Daily News the couple were considering offering “fair market value” for the trailers in the park.

Joy Hanks said Friday that “after thorough evaluation, we’ve determined that offering fair market value for the trailers isn’t feasible.”

“We’ve already removed some trailers, and the cost of removal has greatly exceeded their value,” she said. “Many trailers are too old to be moved, and disposing of them incurs substantial expenses.”

Thirty seven households once called the park home. Since November, some residents have left and several of the park’s lots sit vacant. However, the park still has 23 active lot rentals and kids – for now – still play in the park’s streets.

Floyd’s daughter, Paine, is a basketball player at Warren East High School. Floyd’s son Landon, a sixth-grader, will soon try out for the Warren East Middle School basketball team. Once Floyd’s family moves out of the park, her children will have to change schools.

To give parents living in the park more time to find housing and to avoid taking their children out of school in the middle of the year, Floyd suggested penning a letter to the Hankses asking for an extension of the deadline from March to the end of May.

“We are grateful for what (the Hankses) gave us, and we’re not trying to pressure for more time,” Floyd said. “it’s just a letter of, ‘could you please do this for us.’ ”

“It … sucks,” Floyd told the group. “It sucks to be the new kid. That’s why we bought these (trailers) – so our kids didn’t have to be the new kid all the time.”

Last August, Bowling Green City Commission granted approval to the rezoning of the park. BG Mobile Homeowners was created shortly thereafter by park resident Hannah “Star” Morse and others.

Morse, a resident of five years at Kentucky Gardens, has since moved out, but still works with the group.

During the meeting Monday, Morse said there have been no recent in-person meetings between the Hankses and any park residents.

Joy Hanks said after residents of the park requested a group meeting with the Hankses, the couple “decided individual meetings would be more effective” at addressing concerns.

“We offered private meetings for each family, and a sign-up sheet was available at our office for several months,” she said. “Unfortunately, no residents signed up during that time. Our intention has always been to maintain open communication and provide support, which is why we focused on offering these individual meetings.”

Morse said after some members of the park kept trying to get in contact with the Hankses, she and another resident received text messages from the couple, but not much came from them.

“It was a lot of, ‘well, we don’t really want confrontation. We’re not comfortable (meeting) with a big group of you guys and just us,’ ” Morse said.

As for the March deadline to move, she said there was not a specified date.

“We don’t know,” Morse said about the March date. “It was the end of July, so I would like to assume it’s the end of March. Literally, the paper (we were given) said ‘March.’ ”

Keila Colorado, who has lived in Kentucky Gardens for 20 years, is a mother of three children. She told the Daily News the stress of finding new housing has caused her to have panic attacks.

Colorado said after the commission meeting where the rezoning for the park was approved, the Hankses visited her trailer and brought her groceries.

“They told me ‘we didn’t want this to happen. We didn’t know you were going through a lot, we don’t want you to suffer a lot,’ ” she said. “I told them, ‘if you don’t want us to suffer, don’t kick us out.’”

She said Eddie Hanks had previously made promises to help her find housing and care for her children but, she said, those promises have gone unfulfilled.

“He promised me that he was going to help me find a house. That wasn’t true,” Colorado said. “He promised me that he was going to find resources to help me with my kids. That wasn’t true. He’s made a lot of promises, but they’re empty.”

Several of the park’s residents sought help from local nonprofits. The Daily News reported in November that 16 households from the park had signed up for services from HOTEL, Inc.

Joy Hanks said that she and Eddie Hanks met with HOTEL Inc. “early in the process” to learn how the organization could aid their renters in finding housing.

“HOTEL Inc. sent a representative to the trailer park to meet with each renter and offer help,” she said. “While many expressed no interest, we were informed that a few did take advantage of their assistance.”

Rhondell Miller, HOTEL Inc. executive director, stated in an email on Wednesday that no residents of the park continued working with HOTEL Inc. after November.

BG Mobile Homeowners United has held fundraisers in the past, including one at First Christian Church and another event at Tidball’s. Currently in the works is a fun run, set to take place at Weldon Peete Park on Oct. 12.

Morse said the event has a fundraising goal of $15,000 – money that will go to help families in the park relocate. She stated that $5,700 has been raised to date from different fundraisers.

“At this time, all money raised goes directly to the families to help cover the costs of moving,” Morse said.