CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – Over 100 people living in the Campbell Heights mobile home park are facing eviction as developers begin the process of leveling the neighborhood to make way for a housing development.
Eviction notices were posted Oct. 20 on trailer doors, alerting residents of the 98 mobile homes comprising the park on Darrow Road near Fort Campbell Boulevard that they had until Jan. 20 to find somewhere else to live. The property’s proximity to Fort Campbell and the new Oak Grove Racing, Gaming and Hotel have made its value soar.
Robert Durrett, who owns Durrett Construction and is the brother of Montgomery County Mayor Jim Durrett, is the primary planner for the new housing area on the 13-acre property. Durrett bought the land for $1.5 million in January, according to county records.
“They’re going to have to leave there, but we’re going to work with them and give them all the time they need. Six or seven months, whatever they need,” Durrett told Clarksville Now last week.
He says right now they’re trying to get it “cleaned up.”
Allen Berry, who had been leasing the property until Durrett bought it, was given an additional yearlong lease from Durrett in January to keep the park going. Belleglade Development Company originally owned the land, and they had leased it to Berry’s management company for over 30 years.
Berry was alerted of Durrett’s plan on Oct. 19, just a day before the residents were.
“We’re working on it,” Berry said of trying to get help for the tenants. He said his management company has posted signs throughout the neighborhood saying “We buy mobile homes” in the hopes of giving residents a cash boost to help them get moved.
“Rob Durrett seems like he’s developed an attitude to help, and I guess if it takes six months, he’ll give them six months,” Berry said.
A family community
Alan Dennis has lived in Campbell Heights since the beginning of 2009. He’s lived in several of the trailers around the park, but he bought his current trailer from its former owner for $800 in 2015.
It needed a lot of repairs, but Dennis, 48, said it works for his family. Along with his two dogs, Dennis’ sister, brother-in-law and nephew live in the trailer with him.
“It’s hurting a lot of people, and I understand that the guy who owns this property sees dollar signs by shutting this thing down and putting apartments or condos or some crap on here, but he’s also gotta understand too that this park has been here for years,” Dennis said. “This isn’t a normal, everyday trailer park. What we have is a family community. Most everybody knows each other.”
The difficulty with a trailer park, unlike with rented apartments or owned homes, is that residents – often low-income – might own the trailer but only rent the land it sits on. So if the land is sold, the trailer has to move. And moving a trailer can be expensive.
“I’m thinking this is going to be a total nightmare, because while I own this trailer, I don’t have any money saved up to try and move this thing,” Dennis said with a sigh.
Dennis was quoted $2,500 to have a company move the trailer, but that was if he was moving somewhere locally. “Most of every place I’ve found to try and move it to is about 30 or 40 minutes away from here, and that’s not considered local.”
To move it that far, Dennis would have to come up with $5,000. He said if he had better credit, ideally he would want to purchase a large plot of land so more of his neighbors could have somewhere to move their trailers together and remain a community.
“Pretty much everybody in here, nobody knows what they’re going to do or where they’re going to go,” Dennis said.
Inability to move
“It’s hard on a lot of people because a lot of people in here are on disability, like my son’s on disability,” said another Campbell Heights resident, Melissa Crutcher.
“They gave us 90 days, and they expect us to pay a loan and try to move, too. Instead of giving us the deposit back, they’re just going to put it towards the rent,” said Crutcher.
Crutcher, 39, has lived in the park since May 2019. She and her two sons live in one of the mobile homes, and they’ve rented both the home and lot the trailer sits on.
“I’ve been here for so long, I’ve seen a lot of people come and go. But the people I’ve known this whole time, they ain’t got that kind of money to just up and move. Nearly everyone here is on disability,” Dennis added.
‘I hope the hotels are ready’
Most residents who spoke with Clarksville Now had not been offered anything yet by Durrett or Berry’s management company aside from additional time to find a new home.
“The only thing I’ve heard that he’s offered us is that he’ll give us until spring, but everybody has to be gone by then,” Dennis said.
Another resident, Karen, is a single mom with four school-age daughters. She and her girls had just moved into a trailer they’re renting in Campbell Heights, and not even a month later, an eviction notice was posted to their door.
“I don’t even know what we are going to do. I put everything, all of my money I had, into this little piece of crap, but it’s somewhere to lay our heads at night,” Karen said.
Her hopes were to eventually own the trailer and fix it up. She doesn’t have the money to purchase it from the management company, but even if she did, it’s too old to move.
The majority of the older trailers in the park will have to be torn down, as they are unstable and most have suffered visible weather damage from their nearly 30 years of sitting on the property.
“I hope the hotels are ready,” Karen said.
Angela Peterson contributed to this report.