Off Prosperity Church Road nestled near newly built townhomes, apartments and shopping centers sits a community fighting for its existence amid the weight of development pressures.

Last May, Leonel Chavez and many of his neighbors living in the Forest Park Mobile Home Park in northeast Charlotte were shocked when they received a letter from the property owner, Nesbit Oil Company, notifying them of their decision to sell after nearly 60 years.

“We want everyone to stay in their homes as long as they can, but there will come a day, likely in 2026 when Forest Park will be sold,” the letter from company president James J. White said. “At that time, everyone will have to move out.”

Chavez, 24, has lived in the mobile home park with his mother since he was in the fifth grade. Many of his neighbors have lived here over 20 years — and expected to remain.

In his small, tight-knit, largely immigrant neighborhood, signs of a community with deep roots are everywhere. Many have invested thousands into building additions onto trailers to accommodate their growing families, handmade carports cover pickup trucks with custom decals and large, bountiful gardens full of vegetables, fruit and flowers fill backyards.

And with a monthly lot rent of only $500, this place in a growing Charlotte has been “gold,” residents and an advocate say. But a request to rezone the land for redevelopment puts all that at risk.

On Monday night, Charlotte City Council held a public hearing on a rezoning petition seeking to turn Forest Park into market-rate apartments, which would displace all 60 tenants of the mobile home park. A vote on the rezoning will take place in August, Councilwoman Renee Perkins-Johnson said in an email to The Charlotte Observer.

Wood Partners, an Atlanta-based real estate developer, wants to rezone 19 acres off Prosperity Church Road to build nearly 400 apartments, 18 townhomes and some commercial.

In order for the development to take place, the mobile home park will be removed, zoning documents say.

Finding a comparable space at comparable rents will be nearly impossible, Chavez says. He and his neighbors hope the council denies the rezoning petition.

“Where do we go?” Chavez asked. “Where do we find somewhere to live after living here for so long and not knowing what the market is?”

Spotty communication

Nisbet Oil Company, a local fuel delivery company, has owned Forest Park Mobile Home Park since 1975, according to county records.

In the zoning documents, the developer states that the property owner will keep tenants “abreast of the proposal throughout the process.” But Chavez and others say outside of the letter they received from White last May, there’s been little to no communication.

The letter said tenants would likely have to move out in 2026. But in zoning documents, the developer says it hopes to break ground in the fourth quarter of 2025.

The Observer reached out to the on-site manager for the mobile home park and was told to direct questions to Chris Whittaker, Nisbet Oil’s marketing director. Efforts to reach Whittaker via multiple phone calls and emails were unsuccessful.

Wood Partners held a virtual community meeting on Dec. 4 to get community input. Zoning documents say the developer mailed written notices of the date and time of the community meeting.

But Jessica Moreno, housing justice community organizer for Action NC, said the meeting was poorly attended because many didn’t know it was happening and information wasn’t communicated in a way they understood. Much of the community speaks Spanish.

According to city planners during Monday night’s hearing, 21 people attended the December meeting.

Addy Kundla, spokesperson for Wood Partners, said the mailing list to give notice of the December virtual meeting was produced by the city.

“The tenants of the Forest Park Mobile Homes rental community have been communicated with since May 2024 about plans for the mobile home park to close, due to sale of the property. It is important to note, the rezoning is the result of the sale of the property, and not the cause,” Kundla wrote in an email to the Observer. “We’ve worked closely with the current property owner and have followed the City of Charlotte process for notifying residents, including direct mail notices and public disclosures by the City.”

Kundla said Wood Partners also hosted a meeting on April 29 with mobile home park residents.

Council support

In an email to the Observer, Councilwoman Johnson said she has been working with the concerned community since February. She walked the neighborhood to meet residents and in April, she and city staff have met virtually with residents. According to city planners during Monday night’s hearing, five people attended the April meeting.

In an email to residents shared with The Observer, Perkins-Johnson said she’s been exploring options that will mitigate harm to them.

“The potential loss of affordable housing is a concern that weighs heavily in my analysis of this petition. As your representative on the City Council, I remain committed to advocating for policies and outcomes that reflect our shared values of equity, inclusion, and responsible development,” she wrote in the email.

In an email to the Observer, Perkins-Johnson said her office has encouraged residents to speak at Monday’s public hearing.

In an email shared with The Observer, Perkins-Johnson asked the city attorney if “there are any legal avenues for preventing or delaying the sale and subsequent displacement of the manufactured home owners.” He said there is no legal way for the city to interfere with or prevent the sale of private property. However, owners must give tenants a 60-day notice prior to lease termination.

In the same email Perkins-Johnson expressed concern to City Council members and city staff about the cost of moving trailers for residents.

“Based upon initial research, this could cost these owners between $2,500-10K to move their units,” she wrote. “It’s especially challenging because there may be a challenge to find mobile home parks that can accommodate all of them.”

Chavez said because of the age of many of the trailers it would be difficult to move them, even if they had the money. Many of the trailers have been there since the park opened. Moving them would cause them to fall apart, he said.

Public hearing

During the rezoning public hearing, residents flooded council chambers, holding up signs that read “Tener un techo, es un derecho” (Having a roof is a right.)

About six people spoke in opposition of the rezoning, including Chavez.

“Nowhere in the Charlotte area will we find $500 affordable housing,” Chavez said. “Apartments around the Forest Park area cost three times that just for a studio apartment... We were never given the option to do something about the rezoning.”

Council members all noted that the loss of the mobile home is a loss of affordable housing and would result in major displacement. City planners noted that no less than 5% of the new units would be set aside for those making 80% of the area median income. For a family of four, that’s an income of $89,750.

Ultimately, the rezoning doesn’t stop Nisbet Oil from selling the property, which it intends to do by May 2026. Nor does it stop whoever purchases the property from creating new housing. Under the current zoning, which is N1-B, single-family, duplexes and triplexes can be built on site by right.

“This seller is intent on selling this property,” Perkins-Johnson said during the hearing. “If we deny this (rezoning) or deny the next one, we cannot prohibit this seller from selling.”

Bridget Grant, an attorney representing Wood Partners, said the developer and the owner would work with residents in the next two to three weeks on creating a rehousing assistance plan.

‘Hopefully they let us stay’

Yolanda Valentin has lived in her home for 20 years. She and her husband have invested about $80,000 into adding extra rooms and bathrooms to accommodate them and their six children.

She loves her little community. It’s calm, affordable, near good schools and her husband’s work. And everyday, she can step outside into her own personal garden.

In her backyard she grows potatoes, tomatoes, bananas, figs and more.

“It would be hard to move because we don’t have the money,” she said in Spanish. “Rents are really high.”

On Friday, representatives from Acme Homes, a Monroe-based mobile home dealer, went door to door in the neighborhood offering to buy people’s trailers for $5,000 as is — a fraction of the investment many put into their homes, Moreno said.

Valentin said the developer would have to pay her enough to purchase a trailer to leave her property behind. Without that, she won’t go.

“Hopefully they let us stay,” she said.

Chavez has fond memories of this community. He and childhood friends, many of whom still live in the neighborhood, would play soccer and football in the fields, or basketball at someone’s driveway hoop.

It’s a place where everyone knows everyone — something he’s not sure he’ll find again elsewhere.

“Even though we don’t talk to each other or see each other every day we have that respect,” he said. “If we see that someone needs help, we’ll help.”

Desiree Mathurin contributed to this story.

This story was originally published June 16, 2025 at 10:29 AM.