Authorities begin compliance check on trailer park

A number of residences at a White Pigeon Township trailer park were expected to be condemned following a compliance check Monday.
Code-enforcement officer Doug Kuhlman and township building inspector Randy Schmeling, along with representatives from the St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department and the county’s animal-control department, descended on the West Fawn River Road neighborhood around 9 a.m. to begin a process that will likely take at least three days to complete.
White Pigeon Township Supervisor Don Gloy said Monday’s action is the culmination of what has been years of complaints related to deplorable living conditions out of compliance with the International Property Maintenance Code.
Gloy said park owner Joel Reinoehl has been extended every courtesy and a fair number of extensions, but to no avail. Gloy said the park is licensed for 50 units but he believes there are as many as 59 trailers on the property. He said all but fewer than a half dozen are owned by Reinoehl.
Reinoehl said he has owned and lived at the trailer park the past 17 years. He said the township last year indicated it would inspect 10 units at a time over a five-year period. He said 10 units were inspected last fall, violations were presented to him and he made the necessary repairs.
Until Monday, that’s the last he heard from the township, he said.
Reinoehl, 62, said River Forest Mobile Home Park provides affordable housing for people down on their luck or not able to own a house or rent a modern apartment. He said rent varies between $400 and $600 a month.