A few months back, residents of the Lord Calvert Mobile Park in Great Mills found out they were being allowed to stay in their homes after hearing of a possible mass eviction.
On Monday night at Great Mills High School, located across the street from the trailer park, they also found out there will be plenty of changes coming.
“We want to make sure that the park is a happy, safe place for everyone to live and so we need to work together for that to happen,” Cherry Cove Vice President and General Counsel Jacki Meiser said to a crowd of about 125 residents. “We need your cooperation and we also want to hear your perspectives. This meeting is the beginning of what we hope is a very positive relationship moving forward now that the park is staying open.”
Cherry Cove had long wanted to redevelop the mobile home park into a new residential community with apartments, townhouses and single family homes and had “invested significant resources,” but earlier this year learned construction and labor costs had “more than doubled,” scuttling the idea in May, she said.
Meiser added that over the next 24 months, sewer and water lines and roads will be improved, repaired or replaced and more lots will become available for new tenants.
Tuesday’s meeting covered a laundry list of items, including a rent increase.
“Many of you know that the current rent in the park is lower than all other mobile home parks in the area,” Meiser said. “We cannot maintain and operate the park without rental income to support our costs. We tried to increase the rent over time to allow you to adjust your household budgets to ensure that your rental costs will be met, and we will continue to have rent increases until the rent is similar to other mobile home parks in the area.”
Next January, monthly rent will increase by $50 to $808, then to $858 by July and to $908 in January 2026.
“The rent is my first thought because it’s going up too much,” said Brenda Barnes, who lives in the park with her son. “People are on a budget. I’ve lived there 30 years and it’s getting to be ridiculous raising rent like this to put all this new stuff in there.”
For those who may have difficulty with the increase, Meiser said there are “community programs available that we can direct you toward,” but added that the “unfortunate reality is that eviction notices for the non-payment of rent will be filed in district court every month” for those that don’t pay rent.
In addition, new leases will be available Sept. 1 and go into effect Oct. 1.
One change is that residents may have three cars — registered with the park and tagged — to a lot, instead of the previous rule of two.
As far as existing structures such as sheds and decks that have been added by residents, they now require county permits as well as future additions. The county recently reviewed these structures and is reviewing permit statuses. The removal of unpermitted structures may be required.
The county will not issue permits for new structures without the park’s consent and the park will not consent to any home additions, but may agree to deck and shed permits.
County Administrator David Weiskopf said that permits from the Department of Land Use and Growth Management will be required and “are meant to make sure that the work done at your house is done safely and will not harm you, your family or your neighbors.”
The breaking of rules will result in violation notices and ignored notices could result in eviction.
One rule is that anyone living in a home must be on the lease.
“You’ve got 20 people staying in one trailer, which makes it hard for us people to live,” Barnes said, adding that puts added pressure on water and sewer lines. “It affects everybody. That’s wrong so I’m glad they approached that.”
A new tenant rewards program is also in the works.
The meeting got a little testy during the question-and-answer portion of the meeting when some residents wanted to voice their concerns instead of writing them on index cards.
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