Mobile park raises ire Neighbors try to stop sale developer sues township

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Mobile park raises ireNeighbors try to stop
sale developer sues township

• By Amy Lee / The Detroit News
• http//www.detnews.com/2002/oakland/0211/10/b04-64
  08.htm

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Shannon Carravallah, left, Tim Murphy and Chris
Nordman survey the property behind their homes
where a developer wants to build a 600-unit
mobile home park. Carravallah, Nordman and other
neighbors are supporting efforts to block the
development.
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Farmer Ralph Ruggles owns the land where the
developer wants to build a mobile home park. He
says farming is no longer a viable option for his
family to make a living and he resents neighbors
who have lobbied to stop the sale.
"It kinda grinds me that (neighbors) like to look
at a farm, but they don't want to pay for it,"
said Ruggles, who bought the property in 1951.
"If we were losing it, nobody would help me pay
the taxes."
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White Lake officials and residents who oppose
the manufactured housing development argue the
rezoning is inconsistent with the township's
master plan and is inconsistent with surrounding
land use patterns, among other reasons.
Further, the township has no plans to service the
area with sanitary sewer or water, and both
township officials and residents voiced grave
concerns about the environmental impact of
community wells and a septic field servicing the
300 to 600 manufactured homes. Residents say
the conflict and lawsuit have caused ill feelings
to fester between longtime neighbors who've
heretofore enjoyed each other and the natural
beauty of the remote area, which is served mostly
by dirt roads, said Chris Nordman. "He's no
longer a neighbor. He has no consideration for
us," Nordman said. But Ruggles says those
neighbors are interfering with his right to make
a profit from his property. "I know this
doesn't make my neighbors too terribly thrilled,
but that's happened time and time again. They
feel like, 'I'm out here now, so let's close the
door,' " Ruggles said
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