Park owners, county reach settlement.

Byline: BILL BISHOP The Register-Guard

Tenants of Saginaw Mobile Home Park got a reprieve Wednesday.

Under a settlement between Lane County land use officials and park trustee Kent Olsen, the 14-acre park will remain open while Olsen applies for permits for a private storage building and a septic system that serves park residents.

A previous court order authorized sheriff's deputies to post eviction notices last week on every door in the 42-space park.

The action was the culmination of years of frustrated enforcement efforts by county officials and bitter resistance by Olsen, who claims the land use laws violate his property rights.

"I think it's a great relief to a lot of people," resident Cindy Vriesman said. "There are a lot of people here who have little or no money."

The agreement came after U.S. Magistrate Tom Coffin offered to mediate the dispute and met for three hours with both sides.

If Olsen fails to abide by the agreement, Coffin can enforce the earlier court order - which could bring new 60-day eviction notices and a six-month deadline for closing the park.

"The potential winners in this case are the tenants. If there is compliance, they will be able to stay at the park, which will have an adequate septic system and buildings," said John Cole, Lane County land management manager.

"If terms of the agreement move forward as we hope, the building safety and sanitation issues that caused the county to file the court action will be resolved," he said.

The court action was the county's first effort to close a large mobile home park for safety and sanitation reasons.

Olsen said he appreciates Coffin's help in resolving the issues.

Under the agreement, Olsen agreed not to appeal the earlier court order and the county agreed not to enforce it unless authorized by Coffin because of further violations.

"I've got to give him credit. He talked to one side and the other. He saw what the county would do and what I would do," Olsen said.

The settlement, however, doesn't resolve Olsen's belief that the land use laws are unconstitutional.

By agreeing not to appeal, the legal doors are closed to his arguments for the time being. Even though Olsen already has lost twice in court, he said he's unwavering in his stance.

"I feel good," said Olsen, 66. "You never get everything you want. At least it'll keep the tenants in there."

The county's enforcement effort and last week's eviction notices prompted six families to move elsewhere, leaving 22 families, or about 65 residents, he said.

Under the settlement:

Olsen will submit plans for the septic system within two weeks to the state Department of Environmental Quality, which will determine whether it meets standards.

The county agreed that Olsen has cleaned up solid waste.

Olsen will apply for building permits on an existing storage building and will encourage one of the park's mobile home owners to apply for a wood stove permit.

Olsen will submit a mobile home park configuration plan and will apply for space permits for some currently unpermitted spaces.

"We are certainly pleased to have the issues we were dealing with resolved," said Marc Kardell, the county's lawyer. "We wanted certain things to happen there. We think we're on the road to having that happen."

CAPTION(S):

Kent Olsen, trustee of the Saginaw Mobile Home Park, has reached an agreement with the county that will allow the park to remain open while he applies for permits for a private storage building and a septic system that serves park residents. CHRIS PIETSCH / The Register-Guard