Saco residents ask council to pass mobile home lot rent stabilization ordinance
Blue Haven Mobile Home Park resident Sarah Giles-Gardner speaks to the Saco City Council on Monday about a proposed mobile home rent ordinance. (Sydney Richelieu/Staff Writer)
SACO — Mobile home park residents asked the City Council on Monday night to approve a proposed rent stabilization ordinance, saying it’s vital to their ability to stay in their homes.
The ordinance would limit the amount of times a mobile home park owner could increase the rent in one year and would require at least 90 days’ notice before doing so.
Residents of Blue Haven Mobile Home Park — one of Saco’s two mobile home parks, and by far the larger of the two — have been seeking the city’s help over the past year as they fight to keep lot rents down.
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“Having this ordinance in place will support residents being able to stay in place, in a home they own, in a park they can afford,” Gail Janes told the council.
The City Council last year approved a moratorium on lot rents in response to residents’ input but rescinded it in March.
‘LAST TRUE FORM OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING‘
Blue Haven residents typically own their homes but not the land beneath them, which they rent.
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Many residents live on fixed incomes and have told the city they are finding it impossible to keep up with continuously increasing rents.
“Manufactured housing is one of the last true forms of affordable housing in Saco,” resident Barb Thomas said Monday.
Over the last few years, many mobile home park residents across the state have dealt with major rent increases they say they can’t afford.
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In an effort to protect those residents, several towns — including Saco — have enacted rent moratoriums, while the Legislature has passed several laws related to the matter.
MORATORIUM NO LONGER IN EFFECT
A moratorium to protect Saco mobile home residents went into effect in fall 2025 and was extended until March, when the City Council voted to rescind it.
At that time, Blue Haven owners and a majority of its residents had entered into an agreement about the proposed rent increases.
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Under that agreement, existing tenants’ rents would be set at $660, with credits to offset some of the increase for two years, before new rates go into effect in 2028.
But the agreement only offered short-term relief and prompted the city to look into passing a more permanent rent stabilization ordinance.
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Resident Kathleen Felton said she was grateful for the moratorium but hopes to see more long-standing regulations put in place.
“I can’t imagine another move,” Felton said. “I love Blue Haven, and I hope to spend the rest of my days in Blue Haven.”
Aside from Blue Haven, which contains about 250 homes, Saco’s only other mobile home park is the much smaller Country Village, with about 10 to 15 homes, according to city spokesperson Andrew Dickinson.
WHAT COMES NEXT
The City Council will hold a second reading of the proposed ordinance at its Sept. 14 meeting and is expected to vote on it at that point.
“I just want to tell you how much this ordinance would mean to us,” resident Susan Lalemand told councilors Monday. “It’s just a commonsense thing.”
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Tagged: mobile home parks, Saco city council
Sydney is a community reporter for Biddeford, Saco, Old Orchard Beach, Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Arundel and previously reporter for the Courier and Post. Sydney grew up in Kennebunk and is a graduate. More by Sydney Richelieu
