Nearly a year after purchasing a piece of land and attempting to place a tiny home on it, a Pearl River man said he will most likely take a loss on the endeavor.

Jerry Mobley purchased the property at 39422 Maple St. in June 2008 when it was a vacant, weedy lot. He cleared the land and trucked in several loads of dirt. He got a certificate of occupancy later that month and asked Pearl River Mayor James Lavigne for permission to place a small building on the property.

According to Mobley, he got the green light to proceed after he sent the mayor pictures of the dwelling he intended to purchase from a Mississippi company.

Jerry Mobley stands on the porch of his Maple Street mobile cottage. (Staff Photo by Anne Lautzenheiser)

“The Town Hall basically told me I could have anything I wanted,” Mobley said. “Nothing was ever said about the type of house it had to be or what size was required.”

After purchasing the residence and placing it on his property, Mobley received a permit on Feb. 2 that gave the square footage as 432 square feet and described the structure as a building with “metal frame, sides and roof.”

Mobley set to work installing plumbing and other renovations to make the place habitable.

However, a neighbor filed a complaint, reportedly stating the building would bring down property values. Mobley found the complaint puzzling, as several other lots in the vicinity contain multiple mobile homes, metal buildings and houses in various states of disrepair.

Mobley soon got a cease and desist order to stop working on the home. He called all five aldermen to discuss the issue, and even had the company from which he purchased the building fax a letter to the town hall stating the building was in fact intended to be a mobile home/cottage.

At the February meeting of the Board of Aldermen, the complainant, Charlie Franklin, brought his protest before the board. According to the minutes of that meeting, Franklin insisted the building was a shed, not a trailer, and reportedly became so agitated that Lavigne threatened to remove him from the Town Hall.

Eventually, three of the five aldermen voted to revoke Mobley’s permit, with two abstentions.

According to the parish building code, a permit can be revoked if it was secured under false pretenses or misrepresents the work to be performed.

Mobley insists his permit was quite clear about the building, but several aldermen disagreed, and said the structure could not be used as a residence.

“It’s a shed, and he’s trying to add onto it to make it a house,” said Alderman Virgil Phillips. “If he comes up with some new plans they will still have to go to the planning and zoning commission for review.”

The issue was also raised as to the size of the building. The area is zoned R-3, and it states the living area for a dwelling must be at least 1,100 square feet. However, the ordinance also states mobile homes are allowed as long as they comply with the mobile home ordinance.

That law does not specify a minimum size requirement.

Mobley maintains his building meets the definition of a mobile home because it is portable, like many modular homes or “Katrina cottages” that are assembled in another location and transported to the site.

Mobley revised his plans to meet the minimum square footage requirements, and submitted them via a licensed civil engineer two days later. He also received a sewer and water permit and proceeded to tie into the town’s sewer line.

Before he could finish, he was allegedly threatened with jail time if he continued working on the property.

“So now I’m paying for plumbing that I can’t use,” said Mobley.

Mobley secured signatures from nearly two-dozen neighbors stating they had no problem with his dwelling.

By the time the next town hall meeting rolled around, on March 10, Mobley was informed his new plans, which added an open porch along one side of the house, and a sunroom along the other, were not acceptable.

He was told the open porch could not be counted toward the minimum square footage, even though his engineer stated he had been informed they would.

It was recommended then that an official building inspector be hired. Phillips indicated the town would be required to hire one by 2010 due in part to changes in building codes, and that doing so might help avoid future conflicts.

Mobley said he feels he has followed all the rules. A lifelong Pearl River resident who worked for the city of Slidell for 33 years, Mobley said he was just trying to own his own small home without going into debt. He’s now trying to arrange for the disputed building to be picked up.

He has no plans to pursue the matter in court.

“I could go through the legal process, and I think I could win, but it would take a couple of years and cost me even more money,” he said. “I guess I’ll have to take a loss on it.”

An April 14 public meeting will address proposed changes to the mobile home ordinance. The changes include prohibiting the use of camper trailers as a residence and a ban on modular homes within town limits. The meeting will begin at 6:45 p.m.