ATHOL – Al Dernalowicz, president of the Millers Woods/Riverbend Homeowners Association, went before the Nov. 19 Selectboard meeting in an attempt to revive the stalled effort to establish a Rent Control Board to oversee the manufactured housing development off Daniel Shays Highway.

The effort to establish the board began several years ago when residents of the over-55 complex complained about plans by the owner to significantly increase rent. While residents own their own homes, rent is paid for the pads on which the structures are located.

The effort to establish rent control for the development came in the wake of the case of Blake vs. Hometown America, which was decided by the state Supreme Judicial Court in 2020. The court ruled that rents paid by residents of mobile home parks in a given development must be equal.

The court gave Hometown America a five-year window to set all rents at the same level, Dernalowicz explained.

“Those equitable rates are going to hit a ceiling – I think next year – of about $670. So, those people who were paying $400 five years ago will be paying $670 now,” he said. “After that, it could be even more.”

After establishment of the town’s Rent Control Board was approved at the 2020 Annual Town Meeting, home rule legislation was filed in 2021. It would allow the Selectboard to serve as the Rent Control Board overseeing Millers Woods/Riverbend only. The bill has been refiled in each legislative session since, but has gotten nowhere.

“I’m here to ask that the process start again,” Dernalowicz told the board at its meeting last week. “It seems that (the legislation)…is not getting out of committee, and it’s very hard for me to understand why.”

Dernalowicz recalled that when he first appeared before the Selectboard in 2020, residents at Millers Woods/Riverbend were complaining of a wide disparity in the rent paid by residents of the development.

“We had a diversity in rent that ranged from $400 to $660 a month,” Dernalowicz told the Athol Daily News. “The court said everything had to be equal, equal rent for equal property and equal services.”

Dernalowicz told the Selectboard that the home rule legislation “is very important for a lot of our residents to stay where they are. So, I’m here to ask you on behalf of the homeowners association to restart the process.”

Board member Rebecca Bialecki noted that the Selectboard did vote three years ago to support the legislation.

“The process goes from us as the Selectboard to the legislative delegation, and then it goes to committee,” Bialecki said. “I think the biggest reason that it stalled was because we were sitting behind that big block of Boston rent control stuff that was in the mix. So, I think during this session we have much better odds of getting it done. I know that Rep. Whipps and Sen. Comerford both certainly support this.”

Bialecki asked that the issue be placed on the agenda of the board’s next meeting, at which time members can vote on sending a letter to Whipps and Comerford urging them to get the legislation passed during the upcoming session.

Contacted by the Athol Daily News for comment, Comerford stated, “If Athol asks me to reintroduce this home rule petition, I will do it and fight for it with Rep. Whipps like I did this session. I have heard directly from residents over at Millers River/Riverbend about their rent burden and from local officials who are supportive.”

Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com.