December Trial Set On White Horse Park Occupancy

BERLIN –  While the ongoing health crisis has slowed the process, the lawsuit regarding permanent occupancy at White Horse Park continues to move slowly ahead.

A Worcester County Circuit Court judge last week granted a motion consolidating the administrative agency appeal and the lawsuit related to year-round occupancy at White Horse Park (WHP). A trial is now set for Dec. 7-8.

“Because of the coronavirus shutdown of the courts we haven’t had the hearings we expected to have sooner,” said James Almand, the attorney representing the White Horse Park Community Association Inc. “We’re hoping to have everything done by the end of the year but there’s a lot of uncertainty.”

The legal battle dates back to 2019, when a group of White Horse Park residents filed suit against the county as a result of its plan to enforce the park’s occupancy restrictions. Residents, many of whom have lived at WHP for years, were advised they’d face daily fines if they didn’t abide by the park’s zoning restrictions, which don’t allow year-round occupancy. The lawsuit came after a text amendment allowing limited full-time occupancy, submitted by Hugh Cropper, the attorney representing the residents, was rejected by the Worcester County Commissioners.

Because that text amendment was changed various times after it was submitted, Cropper has now submitted a new one. It states that for property owners who have resided in the park for at least a year prior to June 2018, the park’s seasonal restrictions would not apply until the individual moves, passes away or sells their unit.

“The planning commission has never seen the new one and I don’t know if the commissioners have,” Cropper said. “If I have an audience before the planning commission I can convince them this text amendment is a good thing.”

Susan Naplachowski, one of Cropper’s clients, says the text amendment would be the simplest solution to the situation. She says elderly park residents, two of whom have died since the lawsuit was filed, live in fear of being forced out of their homes.

“I wish they’d just let the text amendment go so people wouldn’t have to worry about this,” she said.

When asked what passage of the text amendment would mean for the lawsuit, Cropper indicated it could have a big impact.

“It could potentially solve the issue with the county,” he said.

The county is not the only party in the lawsuit, however, as the WHP board got involved in December. Almand said the board had a fiduciary responsibility to intervene. He said the county zoning regulation and the park’s own declaration of restrictions prohibited year-round occupancy. If year-round residency was allowed, substantial infrastructure improvements would need to be made.

“It was never designed or developed to be year-round,” he said. “There’s a cost White Horse Park will incur to make it a year-round community. There’s a financial burden if the plaintiffs win the case.”

It’s that financial burden that WHP property owner Fern Thomas is worried about.

“Do you realize how much the taxes would go up if it was no longer declared a campground?  How the county would take over and input all of their rules and regulations and then charge all of the owners for all of it?” she said in an email. “We all bought in a campground as summer type homes.  We cannot afford to stay otherwise and should not have to pay because a few chose to break the rules and are now crying the blues.”

According to Almand, the complaint filed by Cropper aims to have the park’s declaration deemed invalid so year-round occupancy would be permitted throughout the park.

“The pending litigation is upsetting within the White Horse Park community because many of the owners are getting half the story or misinformation,” Almand said. “The lawsuit has as its ultimate goal to have White Horse Park declared a year-round community for everyone that owns there.”

Cropper maintains that that is not the intention of the lawsuit. He says he’s just trying to do what it takes to permit the current year-round residents, who already live there and therefore won’t put any more of a demand on infrastructure than is already there, to stay in their homes. Many are elderly and can’t afford to move.

“I have to challenge the declaration legally, but that’s not the result I’m looking for,” he said, adding that the lawsuit stated that he wanted the 55 full-time residents to be authorized to live in the park. “In fact, I’ll issue a challenge to Mr. Almand. If he will agree in writing that the verified permanent residents are grandfathered, I will dismiss the lawsuit and won’t challenge the declaration.”

Assuming the lawsuit moves ahead, however, Cropper believes he has a 90% chance of winning the case. That’s because the declaration was written in the 1980s for a temporary seasonal campground occupied by RVs. Today, the community is made up of 465 lots featuring park model and modular homes.

“All 465 sites violate the declaration,” Cropper said. “I don’t see one recreational vehicle.”

He said the park shouldn’t be enforcing one restriction — the seasonal occupancy — when it wasn’t enforcing the others.

“I think a judge is going to say enforce the whole declaration or don’t enforce it at all,” he said.

Almand, who’s represented the White Horse Park board for about a decade, stressed that most park property owners use their lots seasonally. He says that aside from Cropper’s clients, the majority of the park’s property owners have always abided by the seasonal occupancy restrictions.

“Everyone who bought there bought subject to the declaration,” he said. “You shouldn’t be allowed to complain now because the county and the board are trying to enforce the restriction.”

He’s hopeful that a judge’s decision on the lawsuit will put an end to something that’s become a divisive issue within the White Horse Park community.

“It’s a tough situation,” he said. “It’s unfortunate it’s dividing the community but at some point we’ll have a decision and everything will settle back down and people can enjoy White Horse Park as it was intended.”

About The Author: Charlene Sharpe

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Charlene Sharpe has been with The Dispatch since 2014. A graduate of Stephen Decatur High School and the University of Richmond, she spent seven years with the Delmarva Media Group before joining the team at The Dispatch.