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Residents worry after city announces pending sale of Clearfield Mobile Home Park

Posted at 6:15 PM, Mar 14, 2018
and last updated 2018-03-14 20:15:27-04

CLEARFIELD, Utah – The Clearfield Mobile Home Park will soon have a new owner.

Wednesday, the city of Clearfield announced it is finalizing a deal to purchase the property for $4.75 million.

The pending sale is worrisome to many of the park’s residents.

“I cried. I was angry,” said Susan Sulimowicz, who has lived at the mobile home park for more than 10 years. “It’s like when somebody died. You ask: 'OK, now what?' And then you’re left like geez, I feel like I got ice water poured down my back.”

Residents received a photocopied version of a handwritten note from the property’s soon-to-be former owner. It explains the circumstances of the sale and warns residents they will soon need to find a new place to live.

“I should have never been done this way, nobody here deserves that: absolutely nobody,” Sulimowicz said. “We don’t deserve to be treated like second-class citizens. I don’t care who you are.”

Leaders with the Clearfield say they will close the property near the center of the city and redevelop the land.

“Once we become the owners of the property, we aren’t going to kick the residents out immediately,” said Trevor Cahoon, the city’s communications coordinator.

They hope to close on the sale sometime in April. Many of the homes on the property are old and run down.

“The structures on the property date anywhere from the late 70s to early 80s,” Cahoon said.

Trevor Cahoon is reassuring residents that they won’t be left in the cold.

“The city is in the process of contacting with a property manager who will be their advocate and assist them in locating a new residence,” Cahoon said.

There is no set date for when residents will begin to receive 90-day notices to vacate, but they are urged to use all the time they have to secure a new place to live.

“It would be pertinent for them to explore their options and see what’s out there,” Cahoon said.

The city will hold a series of meetings to answer any questions residents may have. The first of those is this Friday, March 16.

Sulimowicz didn’t expect to be forced to find a new residence. She says she is taking things day by day, but is confident everything will work out for the best.

“It won’t affect me because I’m hardcore,” Sulimowicz said. “I’ve been in a tight pinch before, I’ll get through it.”