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After a litany of complaints pertaining to trash and rats and a major shooting incident, city officials have called for a community forum to discuss the future of the Lincoln Park Mobile Home Village.

The forum will be held at 6:30 p.m. June 29 at the Lincoln Park Community Center, 3525 Dix.

Topics planned for discussion include citizens’ complaints; new ownership; legal regulatory jurisdiction; and the city’s community health, safety and wellness concerns.

Along with a notice about the meeting, officials posted nine pictures of the mobile home village on its website showing various areas of excessive blight.

The mobile home village was taken under new ownership at the end of February and new management in May.

Shannon Allen not only manages the park now, but she also is a resident there.

She has lived in the village for a year and a half and said she intends to attend the meeting to find out what is going on and what the city has in mind.

According to Allen, residents alerted her to the city’s announcement about the forum after seeing it on social media.

The mobile home community has been the center of activity for complaints about rats and massive trash for a long time now.

Back on April 22, two men allegedly unleashed at least 16 rounds of gunfire at a resident’s mobile home and truck while he was inside the home unit.

When last contacted about the shooting, police said it was still under investigation and no arrests had been made.

Allen said as the new manager, she is doing the best she can.

She said it will take some time to get residents to clean around their respective units properly.

Allen acknowledged that there is a problem with rodents, but called it a “Lincoln Park issue” rather than a problem limited to the village.

City Manager James Krizan said the forum is set to allow for some community engagement on the mobile home park’s issues.

He said it will allow the city to explain its limited authority over the park, noting that the state has the authority to issue demands since it mostly falls under that jurisdiction.

“We will let the community know what has been done and what we are trying to do,” Krizan said.

A representative from the State Licensing and Regulatory Affairs is expected to attend the forum.

Krizan said the owners and management of the mobile home park have been notified of the forum and he is hoping they will attend.

“It will be good for everybody to be in the room and hear the issues from all angles,” Krizan said.

According to the city manager, the city has been given permission to go in and enforce building codes in cases of immediate life and safety concerns.

That has led to a few condemned units.

The city’s announcement about the forum was met with nearly 100 responses.

Lisa Fereczi called the village “an embarrassment” to the city, noting that it doesn’t cost anything to be clean and pick up around your home. She said that’s what all homeowners should do.

Jannett Adams Smith took a different approach.

“I would hate to see it go,” Smith said. “I am sure that’s all someone can afford. Maybe there can be grants to help the community out and the owners should clean everything else up.”

Lisa Attard Francetich is puzzled why there is a meeting about the park’s future in the first place.

As far as she is concerned, simply fine the owners.

She said people pay to live there, so force owners to enforce rules and start giving out fines.

“Take our city back,” she said.

Offering yet another perspective, Nicki Majnuni said the situation seems like a great opportunity for civil servants to do some community service/outreach.

She said some help with a good “once over” might go a long way to remediate the situation rather than potentially making people homeless.

A few people said they have family members who live in the mobile home park and who keep their property clean and they would hate to see them punished for the behavior of other residents.

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