Linnhaven mobile home park in Brunswick. According to a letter distributed to residents in November, the park is being offered for sale. Residents will have first refusal until later this month. Luna Soley / The Times Record
Kurt Scarponi and his family have owned the Linnhaven mobile home park in Brunswick since 1954. Scarponi hopes that will change this year, ending nearly 70 years of family ownership.
Linnhaven, which covers over 50 acres off Brunswick’s Maquoit Road, has close to 300 homes on its property, nearly all of which are occupied. Scarponi said he has discussed the sale with more than one real estate broker and is asking $27 million for the property.
Under a law that went into effect last October, mobile home park owners are required to give tenants as well as the Maine State Housing Authority 60 days’ notice of their intent to sell. In a letter postmarked Nov. 1, 2023, Scarponi notified tenants that “Linnco, Inc. intends to sell Linnhaven Mobile Home Center.”
The law also states that if a majority of residents sign a petition or otherwise indicate in writing that they support making an offer for the purchase of the park, the owner of the park is required to negotiate the sale price with them “in good faith.” Residents are guaranteed an additional 90 days to come up with financing to purchase the park.
Of the more than 700 manufactured and mobile home parks across the state, just 10 are resident-owned, according to Pat Schwebler, co-director of the New England Resident Owned Communities program for the Cooperative Development Institute, a nonprofit that advocated for the law.
Heather Holland, communications manager for CDI, called the bill “an important policy milestone that will protect thousands of Mainers who have the right to adequate, affordable housing.”
Scarponi and his family have been thinking of selling the park for four or five years, he said, but since his brother, Kitt, passed away this past summer, he started looking for a buyer in earnest.
“I’m not against the state law,” Scarponi said in an interview. “I don’t care if the tenants buy the place or not, I just want to get it sold so I can retire.”
“Where government gets involved in private enterprise, nothing goes right,” he said. “It’s just a waste of time and money. … On the other hand, you are giving the tenants first refusal, so I suppose it’s a good thing.”
Scarponi has not yet heard of any residents who intend to purchase the park or form a cooperative to do so. Residents weren’t immediately available for interviews at the park on Tuesday.
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