WOODBRIDGE, Va. – Residents forced out of a Woodbridge trailer park are moving back in, and now a new plan in the works could end months of dispute on the future of the park.
Some of the nine families who were still living in their trailers at the Holly Acres Mobile Home Park off U.S. 1 in Woodbridge when Prince William County building officials ordered them out in July returned home this week, said Mark Moorstein, a layer for Holly Acres Trailer Park owner Hank Ridge.
The displaced residents’ trailers had been deemed fire hazards after a September flood ripped apart a portion of the mobile home park, damaging or destroying at least 20 homes.
Those still living in the remaining nine had strung electrical extension cords to power the homes.
This week’s homecoming comes as a new agreement is being worked out between the county and Hank Ridge. Moorstein said he and Prince William officials have come together to not only resolve the issue of the displaced residents, but to once and for all determine the future of the park and the owner’s reconstruction plans, which have been on hold since officials feared rebuilding would jeopardize Prince William’s future participation in a federal flood insurance program.
With both sides back at the table, it appears the county and Ridge may work collaboratively on a reconstruction plan that could involve moving fill dirt into the area to raise the terrain and prevent future flooding.
“We hope that it will be some clear understanding of how we will proceed, and it will be done in a way, we hope, that everybody will benefit,” said Moorstein.
There is no timetable on when a final decision could be made and talks are ongoing.
