Mobile Home Case Highlights Local Government Rights

By Chris Lehman | March 26, 2010 3:52 p.m. | Updated: June 16, 2010 11:56 p.m. | Portland, OR

It was a case that pitted the owner of an Oregon mobile home park against City Hall, with residents of the park caught in the middle. This week the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the city of Wilsonville, a Portland suburb. But while the court case could live on through appeals, it's already setting a precedent in the often tumultuous relationship between state and local government.In 2005, the owner of the Thunderbird Mobile Park in Wilsonville announced he was putting the land up for sale. It meant more than 200 mobile homeowners would have to move. The news came just four days after John Cleaver put money down on a home there. “After we had already moved in and paid for the movers and everything else, it was kind of a shock to us, of course. We didn't know quite what to do," he said.The residents pleaded with their City Council members, and Wilsonville enacted a strict ordinance requiring the mobile home park owner to compensate residents. The landowner sued on the grounds that the local law was stricter than a state law governing mobile home park closures. Now, the Court of Appeals has ruled against him, and that Wilsonville was in the right. An attorney with the League of Oregon Cities says it means state lawmakers will have to be very explicit if they want to write laws overriding local governments. Read the Oregon Court of Appeals ruling

© 2010 Northwest News Network

Share this article

Discuss

blog comments powered by Disqus

Become a sponsor