MALTA — A group of residents in Saratoga County’s largest mobile home park, Malta Gardens, has claimed that a part-time code enforcement officer for the town is harassing them by recently issuing numerous code violations at several homes. As they struggle to contest the validity of violations or remedy the issues, they fear they could lose their homes.
In March, park resident Patrick Allen received a letter from the town alleging he was violating state and town codes by having an unregistered camper in his driveway, having certain items on his porch, including plywood he was using to repair a floor, a grill and a garbage bag.“There was no explanation,” Allen said, regarding the citation. “Just a list of the laws and bunch of pictures of items circled on my porch.”Meanwhile, another resident, Christine Coonradt, said she also received photos in the mail that highlighted alleged code violations, with circles drawn around certain items.“They circled a tarp (around a garage frame), my hardtop gazebo and the door in the front of my home that we were working on,” Coonradt said. “I didn’t know what was wrong.”Allen and Coonradt claimed that many other residents in Malta Gardens, which hosts 407 lots for manufactured homes across 126 acres, also received violation letters, which were issued in two rounds in March and mid-July. They said their neighbors and family members were cited for having grills, firepits, tires in the yard, unregistered boats, and fences deemed too tall. It’s unclear how many notifications went out.
Some residents are worried that these notices, which were accompanied by letters stating they are not covered by the state’s Good Cause Eviction Law, will lead to them being evicted. If that were to happen, Allen said his family would “lose everything.”…