Hickory Lanes Mobile Home Park

In order to make way for Kevin Metcalfe’s proposed condo project on the Yahara River, come March 1, all of the remaining tenants of the Hickory Lanes mobile home park must be out of the park according to the owners, Dottie and Mansel Johns. The March 1 removal deadline is by edict of those same Dottie and Mansel.

The city CDA recently approved a $2.7 million subsidy “to developer Kevin Metcalfe to help make his Riverfront Commons condominiums a reality” according to a recent story by Karyn Saemann in the Capital Times. The project would include 84 condo units and 30 boat slips with a total value of $17.9 million. According to Access Dane the Johns property is currently worth $449,100.

Presumably, the Metcalfe Company has an option to buy the Johnses property that is contingent upon city approval of the TIF funding.

Kevin Metcalfe has promised to pay $5,000 to each tenant minus any removal costs of mobile homes left on site - and most of the trailers can not be moved to another park due to age and condition. And he has reportedly promised to stand by this commitment even if the tenants are already gone by the time he gets ownership. Good for him.

Unfortunately, the Johnses have decided to give their tenants the boot in the middle of winter with nary a fare thee well. It seems like everybody is benefiting – the Johnses, the Metcalfe Company, and at some point the taxpayers from increased revenues – everybody except for the tenants of the mobile home park.

The Johnses, the Metcalfe Company, and yes, the City need to come together to provide both logistical and short-term financial aid to these people, who are after all our constituents every bit as much as any other resident of this city. They deserve better treatment than they are going to get unless something changes and quickly.

I have serious questions about whether this site really needs TIF assistance - riverfront property in the Madison area needs a development subsidy? - but I will certainly look askance at any project that causes Monona people to be mistreated.