MIDWAY PARK, N.C. -- Residents in one Onslow County mobile home community are demanding that property management clean it up.

  • Matson says the trailer beside his home was in the process of being demolished but that it's been sitting untouched for at least six months
  • From his past construction experience, he's worried there's asbestos in the insulation, even though, it has not yet been tested
  • Officials say a renovation project hopes to bring in 50 new trailers

Every time Robert Matson walks out of his home at the Collins Estates Mobile Home Park in Midway Park, all he sees is debris left behind from a dilapidated trailer.

"It's a complete eyesore,” said Matson. “I've contacted management several times and basically keep getting told that they don't know what to do about it."

Matson says the trailer beside his home was in the process of being demolished but that it's been sitting untouched for at least six months.

From his past construction experience, he's worried there's asbestos in the insulation, even though, it has not yet been tested.

"We have an autistic child living in the house that we cannot let outside for fear that he will get ahold of this insulation and debris and mess that's floating around the neighborhood," said Matson.

According to property management, it's all a part of a complete renovation project.

Melina Ivy Harper, the community manager, says about 30 trailers are being rehabilitated, while another 20 are being torn down and replaced.

Some of the new trailers are already on site and the hope is to have a total of 50 new trailers by the time renovations are complete.

"We have received the complaints but right now nothing is going on until we get permits and make sure that everything is up to code," said Harper.

Work did begin at the Collins Estates earlier this year, but Harper says the construction crew wasn't local so there was a miscommunication about standard work procedures.

"That's why everything was kind of left the way it looks until we go ahead and make sure everybody's on the exact same page, get another crew out here to fix everything at one time, that's where we've been the last couple months."

As for Matson, he just wants progress to be made soon.

"I want it cleaned up and made to be a safe community because this is completely unsafe," said Matson.

And property management said that’s the goal.

“My hope is just to get the community back to what it was, say, 10 years ago, go ahead and get these roads fixed, get everything upgraded, get the homes fixed the way they’re supposed to be fixed, just turn the community around,” said Harper. “It’s definitely a work in progress but I do hope that the community is back up and running like it was several years back.”

Harper says there's no exact timeline on when renovations will continue.

According to Onslow County, a stop work order was issued to Collins Estates because they were moving additional mobile homes onto the property without a permit.

Property Management has since obtained that permit.

The county says they will continue to monitor the progress.

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