BERLIN, Vt. (WCAX) – Is the owner of a Berlin mobile home community flaunting flood rules? Nearly a year after last summer’s devastating floods, officials in the town claim that the owners of a mobile home park are rebuilding without the necessary permits.
It’s been almost a year since the Stevens Branch of the Winooski River tore through Berlin, devastating the Berlin Mobile Home Park. Today, some of the damaged units are still on site, caked with mud, and filled with families’ personal belongings. The park’s former residents scattered to the wind.
“Not only are they dealing with their physical belongings being gone, but they’ve lost the connection to the community that they’ve never gotten back,” said Berlin Town Administrator Ture Nelson.
Amid the debris — at the end of the road — there are several projects that are either under construction or completely finished. Construction crews on Friday were busy building a deck on a cottage and recently poured concrete slabs are ready for utility hookups.
This has local and state officials concerned. The town is suing park owner Randy Rouleau, saying he is building in a floodplain where housing is not allowed under updated regulations. The town is asking a judge to halt the construction.
Rouleau denies he is building new units in the floodplain and says he is just restoring cottages with water damage. “They were not severely damaged. They were previously sited and we want to continue work on those, but they are not new construction. There are no new additions or expansions of any kind,” he said. In a court filing, Rouleau says his lost revenue from the park comes to $20,000 a month.
Judge Thomas Walsh heard arguments in the case Friday and warned Rouleau that continued construction could come at an even bigger cost if the town proves its case. “If you need a permit and you can’t get a permit then the relief is going to be probably ordering you to undo the work you did as well as pay fines and penalties. There’s risk there, I want to be clear about that for you,” Walsh said.
Berlin officials acknowledge it’s a difficult balancing act between private property rights and enforcing regulations, but they say the real issue is about the danger to people living in a flood-prone area. “We need to protect our residents, that’s ultimately what this is about — keeping them and their lives as safe as we can,” Ture said.
Judge Walsh said that Rouleau can continue making repairs on the existing cottages but stressed that he isn’t allowed to build new structures. Another hearing on the case is scheduled in several weeks.