Johnson County supervisor ‘cautiously optimistic’ after meeting with mobile home park owner

IOWA CITY — A long awaited meeting between two members of the Johnson County Board of Supervisors and representatives of Havenpark Communities, a Utah based mobile home park owner, took place Tuesday afternoon in Iowa City.

The meeting was the result months of letters back and forth between the supervisors and Havenpark, attempting to plan a discussion to address mobile home park resident concerns over water quality and rent increases. All parties involved said the meeting was constructive and hopefully the first of other meetings to come.

The supervisors got involved in May, at the request of the Johnson County Affordable Housing Coalition, which works with Johnson County Residents United (JCRU). The groups said communication with Havenpark had been inconsistent.

JCRU advocates for safe conditions in mobile home parks and has pushed for a two-year rent increase moratorium across Havenpark-owned properties to allow the company to address park maintenance issues.

The supervisors initially pushed Havenpark to have a public meeting, but eventually agreed to a closed meeting. Two representatives from Havenpark and supervisors V Fixmer-Oraiz and Rod Sullivan were present.

“I’m very appreciative that they flew in and talked with us. ... what’s really driving this for me is how do we keep people in their homes and have safe and affordable housing. So far, from what I’ve seen from today, this is hopefully a step in a better direction where we can work together,” said Fixmer-Oraiz.

Fixmer-Oraiz said they are “cautiously optimistic” about future interactions with Havenpark and would like to work to facilitate a future meeting that involves residents.

“The conversation focused on listening to concerns, sharing context, and discussing the steps we have taken, and will continue to take, to invest in our communities and improve operations and resident outcomes. We appreciate the opportunity for dialogue and remain committed to working with county leaders and residents on responsible, long-term solutions that create enduring value for current and future residents,” Havenpark said in a statement provided to The Gazette.

Issues between Havenpark and Johnson County residents go back to 2022, when the mobile home park owner bought four parks in and around the Iowa City metro area. Since then, Havenpark has sold one park — Golfview in 2024.

Throughout the back and forth with the supervisors, Havenpark told the county it addressed resident concerns with $2.1 million in improvements, and more on the way, across Sunrise Village, Modern Manor and Lake Ridge Estates.

“I think that our position was that they could improve in that area, and they seemed to agree with us, and kind of said that they would try to do better. And so we'll see if that happens,” Sullivan said of the county’s meeting with Havenpark.

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Water quality issues at forefront of conversation

Water quality and availability has been an issue for residents after manganese was detected in drinking water in 2024 and 2025 and Modern Manor was without water for three days last January.

“When you go to the faucet, you don't know if it's going to come out clear or going to come out brown,” said John Hickson, who’s lived at Lakeridge Estates since 2017. Hickson said he does not drink the water or give it to his dogs.

Some residents have been sending water to the University of Iowa Center for Health Effects of Environmental Contamination for testing.

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Fixmer-Oraiz brought water samples from the parks to the meeting with Havenpark and poured them into glasses.

“I did pour it and offered it to them, and they said that they would drink it, but that they would much rather drink it out of the faucets of the homeowners. I'm not sure if it's because they didn't trust the samples. They were labeled bottles, but they were available to drink and they did not,” Fixmer-Oraiz said after Wednesday’s meeting.

Modern Manor experienced a loss in water pressure just last weekend. Residents said the stream of water coming out of the faucet was the width of half a pencil.

Heather Hix, another resident of Modern Manor, said she started noticing issues Saturday afternoon, and it returned to normal Monday afternoon. Hix said Havenpark provided both a gallon and pack of water bottles to residents in response to the low water pressure.

“Over the weekend there were periods of low pressure in some parts of the Modern Manor community. The situation has been resolved,” Havenpark wrote in a statement to The Gazette.

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Request for rent moratorium, loss of services

JCRU has been pushing for a two-year rent increase moratorium while Havenpark addresses residents’ park maintenance concerns.

Many of the mobile home residents own their homes but pay rent for the lot the homes sit on, in addition to on-site amenities. Since Havenpark bought the properties, residents have reported rent increases of 40 and 50 percent while park amenities have dwindled.

“This was once a respected community that's gone down hill since Havenpark bought it. It's a failing business. It's not just no water. It's a failing business, because all they care about is money,” said Judy Mckillup, who has lived at Modern Manor for more than 20 years.

Residents across the parks have pointed to cable television, lawn mowing and on-site maintenance personnel as services that have been removed since Havenpark purchased the properties.

“If anything that they own up to this being their problem. They bought this park, whether it existed before they bought it or not. It's their problem now, and that they fix this and make it right for residents and not punish the residents with rent raises,” Candi Evans, JCRU member, said about what she’d like to see Havenpark do. “This should have been handled a long time ago.”

Next Steps

Fixmer-Oraiz said Havenpark is working on putting together a timeline of planned infrastructure improvements.

“I want to thank the residents for continuing to make known what they thought was important here, and hopefully they feel like their government has heard them and done its best to respond,” Sullivan said.

Comments: megan.woolard@thegazette.com

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