by Dennis Dalman
A fairly recent change in Sartell’s rental ordinance has disappointed the manager and residents of the Evergreen Village Mobile Home Park in east Sartell.
Regional Property Manager Michelle Carlson spoke at the open-forum portion of the last Sartell City Council meeting.
She said the revised ordinance changed the definition of manufactured-home (mobile home) housing to “single-family” housing. That, she said, is incorrect. Evergreen Village, she said, is an example of what’s known as “multi-housing hybrid” more similar to apartment units than separate single-family homes.
Carlson said residents at Evergreen lease a home site. The business is licensed by the state of Minnesota and the Minnesota Department of Health, she told the council.
She and the residents are unhappy the new designation as “single family” disqualifies Evergreen from the Crime-Free Housing Program. For more than 10 years, she said, residents of Evergreen were happy to have the crime-free program in place to keep the mobile home park site safe. Background checks were done on prospective residents, new residents were required to sign a crime free lifestyle document and the Evergreen management and law enforcement worked together on safety issues as part of the Crime-Free Housing Program’s resources. The neighborhood has always been safety conscious, as evidenced by the last National Night Out, at which 75 residents participated in learning about safety issues, Carlson noted.
Evergreen Village has been owned for more than 30 years by the same company and is known as one of the finest mobile home neighborhoods in the area, Carlson said.
She asked the council to study and to reconsider the single-family designation in the rental ordinance and to “grandfather” in Evergreen so it can continue its participation in the crime-free program.
Mayor Sarah Jane Nicoll told Carlson city staff would contact her to address her request and to try to work out a solution.
The Evergreen Village welcome sign.
