About 200 out of 274 original residents of the park, sold this summer to Sandy-based Arbor Development, have until March 31 to relocate their homes so that "McMansions" can sprout in their place. About 45 of the 156 mobile and modular homes are either vacant or have been moved. The rest are in flux.

"We're having a really hard time," said Meadows resident Joanne Benfatti. "It's like living in a nightmare, and it's not ending."

Suffering from multiple sclerosis - a debilitating disease that can be worsened by stress - Benfatti said her Social Security disability income doesn't cover her bills and prescriptions, let alone provide the $10,000 she estimates is needed to relocate her double-wide modular home to a Murray mobile-home park.

Benfatti is living out of a hotel room while her modular home gets sliced in half for transport across the Salt Lake Valley. To date, she and other Meadows residents have received $2,000 per household to help them move.

Chuck O'Brien, Arbor's manager for the planned Cottonwood Meadows subdivision, said the company has committed $420,000 toward the relocation effort. Those funds are being funneled through the Salt Lake Community Action Partnership to be distributed according to need.

Other donations - in-kind and cash - have begun to pour in from the community, along with $100,000 received from the South Salt Lake-based Sorenson Legacy Foundation.

"We know they have large sums of money from donations," Benfatti said. "Why can't they start giving it out?"

In addition to the $2,000 relocation grant available to each affected household, Cottonwood Heights Mayor Kelvyn Cullimore said the residents also have until the end of October to apply for supplemental grants based on need.

He also hopes that mortgage intervention can be made available.

"The main question I hear is, 'How do I move with only $2,000?' That money isn't near enough to meet the basic costs of moving a mobile home," the mayor said.

Despite the promises for more help, Benfatti said she still worries. She couldn't afford the prices quoted by the licensed movers, so friends are doing some of the work. Expenses beyond the $2,000 have gone on her credit card, which she fears may never be reimbursed.

For several months, Cullimore has been meeting with the residents, developer and area agencies to help coordinate the effort.

"I'm concerned about the emotional and financial impact on these residents," Cullimore said. "About one-third have moved or are in the process. You could say they were fortunate to have some abilities. The others do not."

As details of the land sale were being finalized this summer, Cullimore and Arbor's O'Brien had hoped the seller - a partnership of the Pelton and Thornton families known as Cottonwood Meadows Company - would help with relocation costs. That didn't happen.

"We sold it as a mobile home park. Whatever the buyer decided to do afterwards was up to them," said Barbara McGrath, part of the Pelton family. "Our trust would not allow us to contribute."

O'Brien said the sellers pocketed between $11 million and $12 million from the real-estate transaction.

While McGrath would not confirm that amount, she said most of the revenues went into the trust, with the remainder divided 25 ways.

The coveted property - Arbor Development beat out 10 other entities to win the bid last summer - had strong appeal as a potential east-side development site.

"We knew If we were doing the project, we could aid the residents," O'Brien said. "We're not obligated to contribute, but felt it was the right thing to do."

In the meantime, volunteers with various church groups have helped remove awnings and skirtings from the modular homes that can be moved.

"Thank God for that, or I wouldn't have gotten as far as I am," said Benfatti.

Meanwhile, Arbor has a 16-name waiting list of people hoping to buy a lot in the new subdivision.

In November, the Cottonwood Heights City Council will consider rezoning the area from one-acre to one-half-acre parcels, which will determine how many homes the odd-shaped property can hold.

Depending on lot size, land prices will range from $600,000 to $1 million each, said O'Brien, who anticipates numerous builders erecting custom homes.

Owners of the existing stately homes arrayed around the Meadows also have weighed in - both for and against the rezone and other details of the developer's plan, including whether the new community should be gated or fenced.

While many details have yet to be worked out, the number of good moving days are starting to wane for the mobile-home residents who remain.

"Some are walking away from mortgages and declaring bankruptcy because they can't afford to move," said Susan Johnston, who heads up the Meadows residents association. "These people still need help."

cmckitrick@sltrib.com