As affordable housing becomes harder to come by in Gallatin County, county commissioners approved more than $600,000 in low-interest loans to preserve a Belgrade mobile home park.
"The project is essentially helping the current residents of the mobile home park purchase the land beneath them as a community—a resident-owned community," says Gallatin County Commissioner Zach Brown.
Thirty-nine mobile homes will separate from Belgrade Village Park and reestablish themselves as a separate community association.
"They’re converting the name to be 'Stan’s Garden,' which is a really sweet tribute to a deceased community member named Stan who was apparently a great neighbor and really loved and cared for this community," says Brown.
He explains the motivations behind this project: "Mobile home housing and manufactured home housing is a really important resource for young people, for low to moderate-income families who are working and living in Gallatin Valley."
"We’re losing more of them all the time for redevelopment to higher-end homes. So, preserving the parks that we have is crucial to maintaining a lifeline for working class, low to moderate-income people who are trying to make it here," adds Brown.
Moving forward, the county is hopeful about being able to preserve more parks in the area.
"Mobile home park owners are often solicited by developers and investors all the time. I would just love to feature this project in as kind of a model for what’s possible," says Brown.
This project will be the first time Gallatin County has ever used its revolving loan fund for mobile homes. In addition, the state board of investors will be voting this week to contribute another $4 million in loans to preserve this local park.
