Petition to Support the Demolition of Abandoned Housing at the Conetoe Mobile Home Park and Transparency Regarding Future Development Plans

BACKGROUND

The Conetoe Mobile Home Park (CMHP) is an approximately 0.40 acre stretch of land located within the Conetoe town limits. The mobile home park is located adjacent to Alt Hwy 64, Park Drive, and Thigpen Road. This land is currently owned by Forbes Rental One, LLC, which is currently managed by Tim Forbes. The CMHP currently sits where the former Conetoe High School used to stand. The same septic system that Conetoe High School utilized is the same one that the CHMP used for their housing units.

Some of the trailers within the CMHP have been either blighted or in an uninhabitable state for decades, with official documents regarding the state of the housing dating back to the 1980’s. Since then, the conditions of the CHMP have become a generational issue that many current and former residents have faced.

The Town of Conetoe passed an updated Code of Ordinances for their town during their regularly scheduled meeting in March 2025. The Code of Ordinances was updated to comply with current state legislature and ensure that Edgecombe County and other relevant agencies could legally enforce said ordinances. In addition, the Code of Ordinances serve to hold residents and landlords to an appropriate standard of safe upkeep of housing.

The Conetoe Mobile Home Park currently has fourteen (14) trailers that were condemned by Edgecombe County in December 2025. No residents currently live legally within the CMHP, but Conetoe citizens have been raising concerns about the living situations and upkeep of the CMHP even while residents inhabited the area.

PROBLEMS WITH THE CONETOE MOBILE HOME PARK

Conetoe residents living in the immediate area face the visual blight associated with the lack of upkeep and maintenance of the CMHP. Not only is the grass in the area overgrown, but trees and vines grow right alongside the trailers. Many of the trailers are also in a state of disrepair, with doors and windows absent from the housing units, and excessive rust and decay present within the units, among other visual signs of neglect and decay.

Residents also express concern regarding pests in the area. Abandoned housing units often act as a supportive habitat for termites, cockroaches, spiders, and other insects. These units can even attract and support even larger animals such as stray cats and dogs, among other animals. 

The Conetoe Mobile Home Park also poses an economic risk for Conetoe as a municipality. The uninhabitable housing units can lower property values for nearby homeowners and detract potential homeowners, residents, and businesses from moving into the area.

PURPOSE

Many residents of Conetoe are opposed to the existence of the current mobile home park and do not want future development of the area to consist of a mobile home park style of housing. The purpose of this petition is to support the establishment of alternative housing in the area that best fits the surrounding aesthetics of the rest of Conetoe. Such housing would preferably be single unit housing complexes that comply with all local and state housing standards, as well as being safe and affordable for potential residents. The petition also calls for full transparency regarding the process of transferring ownership to any party who would purchase the CMHP, as well as all potential development plans for housing and other facilities located in the area.

This petition would also support:

a) the removal of all uninhabitable and blighted housing units within the Conetoe Mobile Home Park, 

b) all efforts to preserve the historic church located on the property, which was formerly a building for the Conetoe High School used to educate 7th and 8th graders, 

c) a full environmental survey of the area to identify potential hazards and safety concerns to the Conetoe community, 

d) the implementation of updated drainage and sewage systems for the area.

 

Thank you for supporting this petition!