The shock arrived via registered mail. Doug and Pattie Donery, like 69 others at Country Aire Manor mobile home park in South Hill, learned their park was being sold. They had a year to move.

“Not in a million years did I expect this,” 60-year-old Doug said last week.

And it came at the worst possible time for the couple. Pattie is recovering from two heart attacks and has a brain tumor. Doug is battling several disabling medical conditions. Their two sons are battling cancer. Their manufactured home is likely unmovable, and they don’t have enough money to start over again.

The residents of Country Aire, a quiet, leafy plot on Meridian Avenue across from Pierce County Airport, are scrambling to adjust after receiving the eviction notice. For many, the closure leads to financial nightmares, leaving the neighborhood they’ve long considered home and uprooting a tight-knit community.

The land upon which Country Aire sits and two adjacent lots will be developed into a shopping center, said Michael Luis, a consultant hired by the developers to assist residents with relocation. The Home Depot will be the anchor store – four miles south of another one of the big-box hardware store’s locations near South Hill Mall.

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Country Aire is the latest in a string of mobile-home parks to close statewide. More than 52 parks have closed or are scheduled to close since the beginning of 2006 – a loss of more than 2,000 spots, according to the State Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development’s Office of Manufactured Housing.

The average park closure rate statewide from 1989-2002 was 5.8 per year. From 2003-07, 13.6 closed each year.

“It’s obvious the real-estate prices – especially those within urban growth boundaries up and down the freeway where a lot of the mobile-home parks are located – increase so dramatically that, we assume, owners are selling for that reason,” said Kristi Aravena, a relocation assistance coordinator with the state.

Pierce County is the state’s hardest hit area. Thirteen parks have closed or will close in the same timeframe, eliminating 503 spaces.

County Councilman Roger Bush, whose district includes Country Aire, believes the state’s Growth Management Act has hastened park closures.

The act, which became law in 1990, requires state and local governments to designate urban areas and implement growth plans. The aim of the law is to protect the environment and build sustainable economic development.

Instead, critics believe the corresponding increase in real estate value has squeezed out the lower class.

“When they drew the differences between urban and rural, this park fell in an urban setting,” he said. “The pressure on raising the value is accelerated compared to people further south (in a rural zone). The state requires us to increase density. And to increase density, certain kinds of parks or residential developments have to alter.

“It’s heartbreaking to see an entire community gutted out like this.”

The state offers relocation assistance for those evicted from their parks, but because the department can only distribute $30,000 per month, there is a 10-month waiting list.

As of early March, 36 people awaited about $300,000 in reimbursement.

“In the next few months, I can say that (the wait) will be dramatically going up due to more parks I know will send in a lot of invoices,” Aravena said. “It’s such a fluid thing, but there’s always a wait list, and it’s not uncommon for it to take one or two years to get the reimbursement money.”

The relocation assistance is funded by a $100 fee paid by homeowners each time a manufactured home more than one year old and valued at $5,000 or more is purchased in a park. To qualify, applicants must have held titles to the home on the day the notice was delivered and make no more than 80 percent of the median income in the area – about $42,300.

An owner of a single-wide home can receive $7,500, and a double-wide owner receives up to $12,000. If the home can’t be moved, the owners can use the money toward purchasing a replacement.

Bush said it’s not enough.

“When we had more parks, the moving expenses were adequate,” the Graham Republican said. “You could move just down the road. Now you have to move two counties away. And not everybody wants to move to Grant County.”

The developers who purchased Country Aire have agreed to distribute the funds directly to the residents and seek reimbursement directly from the state later.

“It’s an objective of the developers of the property to make this as easy as possible,” Luis said. “It’s difficult enough for people to pay for their expenses and get reimbursed, but two years out? That’s just not realistic. ”

Even with financial assistance, moving can be a hassle. Most manufactured homes can be moved twice: from the factory to its first location, and again to a second location. Any exterior work, like gutters or a porch, must be removed before moving.

“It just becomes junk at that point,” said Ray Ferguson, a 69-year-old retiree who has spent about $10,000 on improvements since moving to Country Aire 4 1⁄2 years ago.

Other financial problems await some: If a home is mortgaged, the residents can’t move without the lender’s permission. Homes that can’t be moved essentially lose all their equity. Moveable ones can become damaged during transport and require repairs.

Non-financial problems abound: Some residents have lived in the park for more than 20 years. Longtime neighbors will be scattered among numerous new locations. And some children will have to transfer to a new school.

“If we don’t find anything close, he’ll have to meet new people and start in a new school district,” said Pamela Sherman, whose son, James, is a ninth-grader at Stahl Junior High.

But some Country Aire residents aren’t willing to give up just yet.

They’ve organized a neighborhood organization and testified at the March 4 Pierce County Council meeting to petition elected officials for help. Some tenants mentioned the possibility of the county purchasing the land, much like King and Snohomish counties have done to maintain lower-priced housing. The idea is intriguing but unlikely, Bush said minutes after the council voted to cut this year’s budget by $3.6 million.

Bush told the residents one of their best options might be to lobby the state Legislature for an increase in relocation reimbursement.

One resident, Dean Webber, knows they’re battling against a swelling tide.

“We’re not necessarily trying to save the park,” he said. “Ultimately, yes, we want to. But I’m a realist. There’s no guarantee we can save it. But I’ll be damned if we can’t put pressure on somebody who can step up to the plate and get help for those who truly need it.”