Welcome to the archive of Mapleton Hollow's community newsletter!
The Mapleton Mobile-izer is issued quarterly, following the MHA membership meetings. Special editions are issued as needed, for example before a quarterly meeting where MHA members will be voting for executives or making an important decision...
Volume 6, Special Edition Newsletter of the Mapleton Home Association [MHA] Early July 2001
PARK SURVEY RESULTS IN THREE SITE PLANS DEPICTING A FABULOUS MAPLETON FOR THE FUTURE
Inside This Issue
- Preface to The Next Step
- Survey results and the Next Steps in the planning process
- What the survey revealed
- Conclusion about the survey
- Getting Your $5 Rent Rebate
- Introduction to site plans, by Nancy Blackwood
Preface to The Next Step
By Debbie Kranzler, Community Coordinator
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Planners working for the MHA and Thistle Community Housing used the information from the park-wide survey as a guide to draw up three site plans for our community. Those plans were presented to Mapleton Residents on July 15 at Dumpster Park. Copies of the site plans are in this Mobile-izer or can be viewed at the kiosk or in the laundry room.
The Next Step is to discover which plan is preferred by residents. In this Newsletter you will find a ballot sheet to indicate which site plan you prefer. The process does not stop with the ballot, however. Suggestions are welcome. For example, you might like plan 1 if it had the pocket park from plan 3. Or, you might like plan 3 as long as it did not include speed bumps. In other words, the plans are not set in stone. Based on resident feedback from this ballot, the plans can be modified and a vote to approve a final site plan will be held the week of August 5 - 11. The deadline for returning the July 15th ballot is 5pm, Saturday, July 21, 2001.
Just as with the survey, it is important to know that we are expressing preferences. A vote for one plan does not automatically mean that it will be implemented at once. In fact, it is certain that any changes will be gradual and will -depend on getting grants and/or loans to finance them. In addition, it is important that everyone hand in a ballot, even if it is to say you have no opinion. We need to know everyone has had a chance to view the site plans. We are hoping to achieve 100% participation in choosing the future look of Mapleton Mobile Home Park. Voting Guidelines As with the survey, it is critical that EVERYONE give an opinion, but this time it is a simple vote instead of a survey. See the accompanying handouts for more information in order to make an informed and correct vote.
Please note these voting guidelines: Vote for 1, 2 or 3. See the accompanying handouts for more information. -Every home in Mapleton can vote, MHA members and non-members, owners and renters. -One vote per household. In order to validate your vote, you must provide your name and lot# on the ballot. -Names will be removed before the votes are read, so your vote will be confidential. *Ballots without name and/or lot # cannot be counted. Accepting anonymous votes would leave us open to voting abuse and we want to be sure the we really are getting the opinions of residents. -Ballots can be dropped off at the kiosk, the laundry room, at lots #14, #58 and #178 or given to a canvasser. *Your vote counts!!! Please participate.
Survey results and the Next Steps in the planning process
by the editors
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The response to the recent survey was tremendous!! THANK YOU to all residents who participated, and especially to the Canvassing Committee who knocked on so many doors to answer questions and help with the surveys. It is very clear that Mapleton residents care about the Park where we live.
The number of responses: 112, 93% of residents. (Total number of occupied homes is currently 120.)
The number of completed surveys: 102, 84% of residents
The number of residents who checked off, "I choose not to participate:" 10
What the survey revealed
By Debbie Kranzler, Community Coordinator
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Here is a summary of the survey results. Note: percentages do not always add up to 100% because some respondents did not answer all questions or, in some cases, not all answers are reported here. -
-Average length of residence in Park: 9.3 years. (Nationally, mobile home parks average 7-9 years, so we are on the long end.)
-Reason for living here: 63% cost of living, 20% location, 15% quality of life.
-Top 3 reasons for staying in the park: cost of living, trees and foliage, peace and quiet.
-Centralized mail delivery: 94% said no.
-Interested in community gardens: - 3% (Regardless of which each site plan is selected, this group could get together and create a garden.)
-Sidewalks: 35% wanted them on both sides of the street, 44% had no preference; 65% want them level with the road as they are now. "
-Speed bumps: 39% yes, 57% no. "
-Centralized off street parking: 12% yes, 61% no, 23% no opinion
- More lighting: the top choice was no change.
-Type of lights preferred was low "'E"; it might be possible to incorporate these into the individual lamps at each home.
-Minimum size yard: top choice was 12 feet, second choice was 20 feet, 3rd was 16 feet.
-Payments on home in addition to lot rent: 16% have payments, with an average of 5 years left to pay off.
- Do you consider house payment plus lot rent affordable: 90% yes.
-Average lot rent: $332. Remember that rents are based on income and that this is the average of 84% of the residents who filled out the survey. Other mobile home parks in Boulder are charging $500/month.
-Plans for replacement of home: 10% said yes, within an average of 4 years.
-Size of homes: most popular was single story, 20 feet wide, least popular was single story, 28 feet wide. Opinions were evenly divided on the two-story homes.
-Attend community events: 68% said yes. Responses were evenly divided on whether more community events were wanted.
- Expansion of laundry room to include a community meeting space: 59% yes, 34% no. 7% did not answer the question.
- Centralized bike racks: 17% yes, 52% no, the rest selected "no opinion."
-Community bikes: 14% yes, 66% no. "
-Replacing utility infrastructure: in order of importance, 1) sewer, 2) water, 3) electric.
- Timing of infrastructure work: 84% selected ASAP or before/during Goose Creek construction.
- Willing to pay extra lot rent to support utilities work: 29% yes, 63% no.
Conclusions:
By Debbie Kranzler, Community Coordinator
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First and foremost, please remember that these results tell us the community preferences, but this is not a vote to have changes made. These survey results were used by the planners to draw up the three preliminary site plans presented to the community meeting on Sunday, July 15, and reproduced in this issue of the Mobile-izer. The results will also help set the priorities for repairs, upgrades and changes in the Park over the next few years.
One of the strongest messages from this survey was that a large majority of residents would like to see the infrastructure repairs done before or during the Goose Creek construction so that we get the mess and the inconvenience over with as soon as possible and can enjoy the changes to our park. MHA's Business Committee and Thistle staff meet regularly with City Staff. The timing, financing and responsibility for the infrastructure work are key points in these on-going discussions. If you have not yet voted for the site plan you prefer, please do so today! Continued community input is critical to this planning process.
While it may sound repetitive, that is because your voice is so important!! Please check off your choice, add any comments, and drop your ballot into the envelopes in the laundry room or at the kiosk in Dumpster Park; or at homes # 14, 58 or 178; or hand it to your canvassing representative when he or she knocks on your door. The deadline for submitting opinions is Spm on Saturday, July 21, 2001. The next step is for the planners to take our.votes and comments and put them together into the final plan that represents our wishes for the future of Mapleton. That means that one more vote is coming up. Then you can rest for awhile....but be prepared this fall for more information and input when we take up other important issues such-as the mechanism for ensuring that Mapleton homes are permanently affordable. If you already have some ideas, contact Debbie Kranzler, MHA's Community Coordinator, lot #14 or call 303-444-4140 or email.
Getting Your $5 Rent Rebate
By Debbie Kranzler, Community Coordinator
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Don't forget, you get $5 off of your August lot rent as a thank you for responding to the survey. One caveat, however. A fair amount of work goes into telling the computer that each home's rent is different this month from all other months. If there is a glitch and you receive a notice that your rent is late or insufficient, you can ignore it and please accept apologies in advance. For those who pay by electronic transfer directly from your bank account to Hast, the $5 discount will probably be applied in August, but it might be delayed until September. You might want to check with your bank a few days after the transfer is scheduled in August, to determine whether the rent transferred that month was $5 less than usual.
Introduction to Site Plans
by Nancy Blackwood RRC Associates
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(RRC Associates is the firm working for Thistle Community Housing and the Mapleton Home Association to draw up working site plans for a future Mapleton Park Community. These plans are integral to a successful purchase of Mapleton Park from the City of Boulder. Eds. note.)
Thistle Community Housing and the MHA have hired a planning firm to generate three site plans, or concept studies, for Mapleton Park. The studies explore three options: Study #1 is the most conservative, with as little change as possible; Study #2 incorporating more resident feedback obtained from the survey, allows for more flexibility when replacing homes; Study #3 represents a more progressive approach, incorporating a diversity of manufactured housing options that provide the most significant change from the current layout of the homes in the Park.
As you know, the survey results represent ideals for how we would like Mapleton Mobile Home Park to look in the future. There are no guarantees that all the changes illustrated will be implemented. All three studies include the repair/upgrade of the utilities infrastructure (water, sewer, electric, gas, cable) in the park. Concept Studies #1 and #2 allow for every home in Mapleton to be replaced, when the resident chooses or when the home becomes too old to be safely inhabitable, by a home at least 16 feet wide (these are the smallest manufactured homes widely available today).
No matter what plan is selected by residents, no one will ever be forced to replace a home or to move out of a space to implement the plan. The sizes and shapes of homes shown on these plans demonstrate what is POSSIBLE. IF you decide to replace your home and your space shows a 24 foot wide home you can still choose a 16 or 20 foot wide, that is totally up to you. You will be able to select any size UP TO the size shown on the maps. In other words, the drawings illustrate the maximum size of home that can be located in each existing space. Since most of the homes in Mapleton Park are at least 30 years old, we assume that over the next 5-20 years, many residents will want or need to replace their homes, so we need to .plan for -that time. The sewer, water electric etc. will be installed/constructed in a way that will accommodate the potential replacement of homes. That means that if you decide to replace your home in a few years, the cost of connecting the utilities should be minimized since the lines will be laid out with both existing homes and potential new homes in mind.
There are a few suggested improvements that all the plans share, such as 1) the placement of the dumpsters, 2) landscaping at the Mapleton entrance, landscaping at the east entrance off Valmont and replacement of the chain link fence south along that entry road, 3) community gardens at the "bump out" along Goose Creek, 4) small pockets of perpendicular parking interspersed throughout the park, 5) enhancement of the pedestrian path across the irrigation ditch at the south end of the park and enhancement of the east-west pedestrian path at the north end of the park. The insert pages iclude a summary of the three concept studies along with reduced versions of the plans.
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The Mapleton Mobile-izer is published quarterly by the Mapleton Home Association and is distributed free to all residents of Mapleton Mobile Home Park.