Earlier this year, the town began debating how to help David Jones, owner of Selma Mobile Home Park on U.S. 301. Jones had been seeking a bank loan, which he planned to use for personal business. But his bank declined his loan application because of a town ordinance that might have made it hard to repay the loan.

The ordinance states that owners of mobile home parks are not allowed to replace homes that have been destroyed or fallen into extreme disrepair. It also says mobile home parks may have no more than four homes per acre. Jones and his wife manage 17 mobile homes on 2.01 acres.

Jones has told the Town Council that his bank feared any changes in the number of mobile homes would adversely affect his income. In such a case, Jones might not be able to repay a loan from the bank.

In recent months, Councilwoman Debbie Johnson, a real estate agent, has urged her fellow council members to move swiftly to come to Jones’ aid. Johnson has led a charge to exempt three mobile home parks in town, including Jones’, from the ordinance.

Last Tuesday, Johnson’s frustration showed when the Town Council moved to further delay debate on the issue until its next meeting, on June 9. The vote to table debate came after interim town manager C.L. Gobble advised the council to seek advice from the N.C. League of Municipalities.

“He [Jones] came to us in January, and here we are almost six months later and still nothing has been done,” Johnson said. “I’m getting a little tired of this.”

But Gobble told the council that bending the rules for specific individuals was a “slippery slope.” He said doing so could raise any number of legal issues that could put the town at greater risk of lawsuits.

“I just think you need to do some serious homework on this before making a decision,” Gobble said.

Meanwhile, the Town Council voted 4-1 last week to clear up another matter affecting Jones’ property. As council members probed Jones’ case, town officials found that the property on which his park sits had been zoned incorrectly amid changes in 2004.

In a letter to the council, Gobble said Selma Mobile Home Park had accidentally been included in a zone for high-density residential developments. With Mayor Charles Hester dissenting, the Town Council last week voted to rezone the property for a mobile home park.