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Residents of Southampton Meadows press county over unsafe water, roads and management complaints
Summary
Multiple tenants from Southampton Meadows told the Board of Supervisors March 26 they face repeated water-quality problems, unaddressed road repairs, alleged harassment by a park manager and difficulty locating the park owner; the county said it lacks a local ordinance under the Manufactured Home Lot Rental Act and will request health-department follow-up.
Tenants and representatives from Southampton Meadows delivered an extended public comment to the Southampton County Board of Supervisors on March 26 alleging unsafe drinking water, hazardous road conditions, inadequate fire protection, and repeated management misconduct and retaliation.
Emma (identified as a tenant association representative) told the board the park’s drinking water is not safe and that tenants are “paying double” for water while receiving poor service. She described broken roads, abandoned homes, strict—and at times allegedly arbitrary—parking and yard-enforcement practices by the park manager, and difficulty contacting or getting responses from the listed owner, which she said is an LLC with out-of-state contacts.
Board members asked county counsel and staff what the county could do. The county attorney advised that the Manufactured Home Lot Rental Act authorizes localities to adopt ordinances to enforce the statute but that Southampton County currently has no ordinance on the books that would authorize local enforcement. The attorney said private legal remedies (injunctive relief, monetary damages) are available to tenants and encouraged coordination with counsel representing the tenants.
On the public-health question, the board and staff agreed to contact the local health department. County staff said they would reach out to the Virginia Department of Health representative (Brandon Applewhite at the local office) to request drinking-water testing and follow-up and asked staff to report results back to the board.
Tenants said they have retained counsel and will pursue civil remedies; they asked the county to help identify the owner and to press for code, road and health interventions where the county can act. County staff advised that some remedies are civil matters between tenants and owner/managers but that staff would assist by contacting the health department and investigating whether tax records or other county records can provide owner contact information.
The board did not take a legislative action to adopt an enforcement ordinance during the meeting; staff and counsel flagged next steps including health testing and further staff follow-up.
