By Elizabeth Bonin, Staff Writer

(Dec. 24, 2020) The motion to dismiss Worcester County from the lawsuit regarding the full-time residents of White Horse Park and the White Horse Park Association has been dropped.

Hugh Cropper

Attorney Hugh Cropper, representing the full-time residents, withdrew the motion last week. A hearing had been scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 15.

Worcester County had opposed the motion to dismiss, contending that it had already spent time and resources on the case, and that the county law would still apply even if the full-time residents win the lawsuit over the association.

“If Worcester County wants to fight in court, then we’ll go fight them in court,” Cropper said.

He said he thought that the county would want out of the lawsuit, given that it has spent at least $50,000 on the case.

“Given the fact that we’re down to 37 people out of 465, which is about 8 percent, so 92 percent is in compliance, I assume that Worcester County would no longer have an interest in spending taxpayer money,” Cropper said.

The full-time residents of the park have been fighting to stay at the seasonal park for the past several years. Out of the 465 residents in the park, there are 37 full-timers out of the original 55.

“I contend that when you’ve got 465 people, if they [Worcester County] root out my remaining 37, there will be a couple more. It’ll go on forever,” Cropper said.

A settlement conference was held on Wednesday, Dec. 16, but an agreement was not reached, according to Cropper.

An announcement from the White Horse Park Association states that during the settlement conference, the county attorneys indicated that the Worcester County Commissioners were unlikely to agree to allow the residents to remain in the park until they move, sell the property or die in order to give them time to find alternative housing.

It further reads that Cropper agreed to share the age, financial condition and health of the full-time residents via a confidentiality agreement to assess the situation and facilitate future discussions.

The trial date was rescheduled for Tuesday, May 18 and Wednesday, May 19. It was originally scheduled for last week, but was rescheduled because of Cropper’s request to delay, citing the coronavirus pandemic.

The zoning code for White Horse Park states that from Sept. 30 to April first, residents can only occupy their unit for 30 consecutive days or an aggregate of 60 days. Many residents are older and struggle with disability or low incomes.

Melissa Peters, acting president of the White Horse Park Association Board of Directors, has said that most of the full-time residents are actually younger than 80, with some as young as 40.

The full-time residents have claimed that they were either not properly informed of the zoning code or encouraged to live at the park full time, while the county and association claim that the zoning code has been available to view and that the park’s infrastructure was not built for full-time residents.

The residents have attempted both a zoning amendment and an appeal to allow them to stay in the park until they sell the property, move or die. Both the amendment and appeal were rejected last year.

Worcester County did not respond to a request for comment.