WAKE FOREST, N.C. — A rally was held Tuesday night outside Wake Forest’s town hall to bring attention to the rezoning of Wellington Park. The mobile home community is likely to be demolished in order to make way for a housing development.
What You Need To Know
Wellington Park in Wake Forest will likely be rezoned for a housing development
Residents of the community have until mid-January to move their homes or find a new place to live
The new developers are helping with a total of $250,000 worth of relocation costs
Some say that's not enough money to cover expenses for all the families that need to move
Ronnie Jackson has lived in Wellington Park for the past three years. “This is a really nice place. People love it here. It’s calm. There’s no loud noises or crime or drugs, anything like that,” Jackson said. “The trees. I love the trees in North Carolina, and this place has beautiful trees.”
People who live in the community lease the land. “Some people have lived here over 30 years and this is their home. This is where they wanted to live the rest of their life out, right here,” Jackson said. “I’d say at least 15 to 20 families here that are going to be instantly homeless.”
But there are plans for this community to be turned into a housing development known as Quail Crossing. “This situation is so important to me because I’ve seen the tears. I’ve seen the tears of these residents. They’re scared to death. They don’t know what they’re going to do,” Jackson said.
Wellington Park is set to close in January and about a dozen of the almost 50 families have already left. The developer, Middleburg Communities, agreed to help with a total of $250,000 of relocation costs, so Jackson says residents have decided not to fight the rezoning. Even if that’s enough money to move the home that are left, Jackson says there are other things to be considered.
“They’ll lose their jobs. They’ll uproot their children from school. They’re scared to death if they move into another mobile home park it could be drug infested or crime infested,” Jackson said.
There was a public hearing after the rally Tuesday. At that hearing, people asked Wake Forest town commissioners for additional financial help for relocation expenses.
Spectrum News 1 reached out to Middleburg Communities for comment on the situation, and they responded with the following statement:
"We understand the challenges this sale presents to the current residents at the park and we have been working with the Town, local non-profits and residents to understand their needs and to be part of the solution. The Town of Wake Forest early on recognized the need for assistance and suggested an array of possible responses. To that end, Middleburg Communities has committed to the creation of a funding mechanism to work with Triangle Family Services to help Wellington Park residents on a case-by-case basis to assist with their relocation. Our company has committed $250,000 that can be deployed on a needs basis through TFS. TFS has successfully worked with residents in similar situations and has a very successful track record of finding innovative and long-lasting solutions for those families."