The city of Saco again extended its emergency moratorium on mobile home rent increases Monday night after residents of a local park renewed their pleas for help.

The Saco City Council unanimously voted Monday to extend the moratorium for another 60 days, with it now set to expire April 10.

The City Council first passed the moratorium on Oct. 27 and approved a 45-day extension in December.

The moratorium — which blocks lot rent increases at mobile home parks across the city as long as it is in effect — was prompted by outcry from residents at Blue Haven Mobile Home Park, many of whom say they’re on the verge of being priced out. Their concerns mirror those of mobile home park residents across Maine who have asked local and state governments to intervene on their behalf in recent months.

Through tears, Blue Haven resident Sarah Jazz Gardner said Monday that a rent increase would force her and her husband out of their home.

“I’ve been homeless before, and I really don’t want to live in my car again,” Gardner said. “From the beginning, it’s been the city that’s stood by us.”

Gardner and many other Blue Haven residents have said they’re on fixed incomes and rely on disability and Social Security payments, making higher rents unworkable.

“When my partner purchased our home, it was within our means,” resident Linda Daniels said. “I can say it doesn’t even come close now. Everything has gone up.”

Daniels is a full-time caregiver for her husband, and the couple relies on disability payments to make ends meet. If they were forced to move, she said, they wouldn’t know where to go.

“There is a sense of uncertainty in the air,” she said.

A GROWING ISSUE

Over the past year, many residents of mobile home parks throughout Maine have seen significant increases in rent, often after out-of-state companies purchase lots. That has prompted several towns to consider or pass local moratoriums on rent increases, while the Maine Legislature has passed several laws intended to protect mobile home residents.

Blue Haven was purchased by California-based Onyx Capital Corporation — operating under the name Blue Haven MHP LLC — in 2020.

Residents of a mobile home park in Arundel begged the town to pass an emergency moratorium on rent increases in November, but the town’s Select Board said it did not have the power to enact one. That community, Shady Oaks Mobile Home Park, is also owned by Onyx Capital.

The Select Board then said last month that it would begin to discuss the potential for rent stabilization after the governor’s office issued a report that included a model ordinance for towns.

In January, the Biddeford City Council shot down a proposed 90-day moratorium of its own.

At a December town hall, Blue Haven residents said rent prices are already too high based on the limited amenities offered.

But a park representative said at the time that the owners need to raise rent in order to “meet a baseline.”

“If we don’t raise the rent, we won’t be able to afford the expenses that we have,” said Blaine Burnett, a financial adviser to the park owner. “It is a park that is aging, and there are things that need to be replaced.”

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

While Saco’s moratorium will benefit Blue Haven residents in the short term, a long-term solution is still in the works.

A committee of Blue Haven residents and the park owners are currently in mediation to create an agreement that will work for both parties.

Blue Haven LLC attorney Richard Bryant said Monday that an agreement has been reached but must be signed by a majority of Blue Haven households by March 1.

Bryant said the agreement would only apply to a proposed rent increase that would have gone into effect on Dec. 1 if not for the moratorium.

Bryant asked the council to rescind the moratorium if the agreement is finalized.

Though city councilors unanimously extended the moratorium, one said the city should think bigger.

Councilor William Doyle said the city ought to consider a citywide rent stabilization ordinance.

Doyle, who previously served two terms as a city councilor and one term as mayor, returned to the council this year after winning a special election for the Ward 3 seat. He noted Monday that previous Councilor Joseph Gunn resigned that seat after rising rent prices forced him to move outside the ward.