Voters in Old Orchard Beach to decide on mobile home park rent control ordinance

Old Orchard Beach residents will vote in November on a proposed mobile home park rent control town ordinance.

Residents in mobile home parks typically own their home, and rent the lot the home sits on.

Earlier this year, the long-time owner of Old Orchard Village and Atlantic Village mobile home parks announced they were selling the properties. The nearly 400 households at the parks feared rent increases with a new owner, FolletUSA, and there was a failed effort by some residents to buy the parks and form a housing cooperative.

This sparked a petition drive to create a town ordinance that would create a rent-control system for residents in Old Orchard Beach’s mobile home parks.

Under the proposed ordinance, annual rent increases in mobile home parks could not be more than 5 percent of the base rent unless it was justified through an additional approval process.

Val Philbrick, a resident of Old Orchard Village, said last year, lot rents increased 5 percent under the previous ownership. She said this year, it was increased 14.5 percent increase to $597 a month.

She said without a rent stabilization ordinance in place, “there is no limit” to future rent increases, noting that many of the mobile park residents were on fixed incomes.

Old Orchard Village resident Kimberly Look said the mobile home parks were one of the last affordable housing options for young adults starting out and seniors on a fixed income.

“I don’t know where our town is heading, but it looks like it’s going to become a town of old rich people from out-of-state,” she said.

The petition  effort received enough signatures for the proposed ordinance to go before the Town Council Tuesday night. The Town Council had two choices – it could approve the ordinance on the spot or it could send it out to a referendum question for voters to decide in November.

“Our hands are tied,” said Town Council Chairman Shawn O’Neill.

He said he would have preferred to take some time for discussion, have public workshops and work with residents on the issue.

Town Councilor Kenneth Blow said he was worried that mobile home park residents didn’t know that the ordinance could bring hidden costs to them, including an annual rent stabilization fee from the town to cover municipal staff time to enforce the ordinance.

“I’m just concerned about a knee-jerk reaction,” said Blow.

The council voted 4/0 to put a referendum question out to voters in November. Councilor Louise Reid abstained from voting as she lives in Atlantic Village.

O’Neill said the proposed ordinance would help only a small segment of the town, and it should be decided by voters rather than the Town Council.

“As presented, it’s not fair to the entire town,” he said.

Representatives from FolletUSA the company that now owns Old Orchard Village and Atlantic Village, were on hand at Tuesday night’s meeting. Founder Matthew Follet and President Erik Rollain said they were not trying gouge the mobile homeowners. They said they did not intend to raise rents until June 2025, at which time they would implement a $40 - $60 month increase.

Publisher Liz Gotthelf can be reached at newsdesk@sacobaynews.com.