On Monday, Oct. 5, Battle Ground City Council voted unanimously to approve a six-month emergency moratorium prohibiting “the filing, acceptance, processing and/or review” of applications to redevelop or change the use of mobile and manufactured home parks in the city. The motion was carried quickly and with no further discussion between council members.
Section 5 of the adopted Ordinance 2026-21 now directs the council to develop a Mobile and Manufactured Home Park Regulatory Options work plan. The plan should “include, but not be limited to” lasting protections for mobile/manufactured home parks, and an analysis of the potential impacts of redevelopment on housing affordability and availability.
The council will also hold a public hearing on the topic, which will take place at Battle Ground City Hall on Nov. 16, 2026.
The moratorium comes after concern about the purchase and redevelopment of Collective Communities Battle Ground Mobile Home Community, located behind the Battle Ground Wilco at 300 S.W. Seventh Ave.
While many living in the 55-and-older park own their homes, the land beneath them is leased. For over 20 years, this land has been zoned for regional center commercial use, and the park has operated under a conditional use exception.
In late June, residents received a notice that the park was up for sale.
At the end of July, a BGMHC homeowner reached out via email to Collective Communities Property Management for clarification about the sale of the park. A representative assured residents that there was “no need to worry about the future of the community”, but said she could not provide information about the buyer.
As of Thursday, Oct. 8, Collective Communities has given residents notice that the park will transition to a new ownership group on Oct. 9, 2026. “Your current leases/rent agreements will remain in effect,” reads a letter to tenants.
For resident Colleen Eubanks, the moratorium brings partial relief after months of stress and effort from herself and many of her neighbors. From July to September, Eubanks served as representative for the qualified tenant organization Battle Ground Mobile Home Community Tenant Group. The group was established in order to compete for purchase of the park.
The tenants were given 70 days to gather the funds needed to buy the park (around $40 million), but did not meet their goal. Eubanks said they were realistic from the beginning about the likelihood of their success. After failing to raise the money, they depended on intervention from the city.
During the public comment period of Monday’s meeting, Eubanks praised the council for their quick action. Following the moratorium’s approval, Eubanks says this is just the beginning of the residents’ quest to secure lasting protection for their park.
Their primary concern is opportunistic investors, who buy up commercially valuable land, like the park, and transform it into more lucrative real estate.
“The ultimate [protection] would be residential zoning,” she says. If that’s not possible, she also supports zoning overlays that would guarantee the park’s right to remain indefinitely as a residential community. While an overlay won’t change the land’s base zoning, Eubanks feels it would provide more security than the conditional use the park currently operates under.
“I would like to see Battle Ground go beyond in protecting this kind of housing,” she said. She takes the moratorium as a strong sign of support from the council.
