Carson to Consider Aid to Trailer Park Renters

The Carson City Council has decided to look into reallocating $164,100 in federal Community Development Block Grant Funds to help 50 residents of the Nu-Way Mobilehome Park buy the park from a developer who plans to build a shopping mall on the site.

The park residents applied for the city’s block grant funds weeks after Carson had already allocated its $1.7 million in funds to four other city projects. If the city approves the Nu-Way application, it will have to transfer money it promised to one or more of the other projects.

City Manager Jack Smith said it is too early to tell if the city will reallocate the funds. Applications for block grant funds must be reviewed by a city advisory panel, which makes recommendations to the City Council. A public hearing at a weekly City Council meeting also is required. The Nu-Way application will be reviewed next month.

Five-Acre Lot

The four projects that were approved for block grant funds in April involve housing rehabilitation, street improvements, fair housing and public services, Smith said.

The park residents are hoping to buy 4.5 acres of the five-acre lot for $1.5 million through the state’s Mobile Home Park Assistance Program.

To buy the park, residents are seeking $396,000 from the state program, $164,100 in block grant funds, $586,341 in bank financing and a $297,436 loan from the developer, Knickerbocker & Associates, who bought the property in May, 1988. Residents will also pay $57,500 of their own money for the purchase.

Gerald Gibbs, an attorney representing the park residents, said the next time the group can apply for the state funds is September.

But Nu-Way owner Craig Knickerbocker said that may be too late. “My investors have been waiting for over a year now. I’m getting real hard-pressed to tell them to wait,” the developer said. “They either want to see the residents get their funding approved soon or else build a shopping mall.”