After living at Shady Acres manufactured home park in West Kelowna for 30 years, Gary Sorensen is facing a bleak future.
“Homelessness,” Sorensen told Global News.
He is one of dozens of low-income residents, many with disabilities, facing the possibility of being displaced amid a housing crisis due to a proposed development plan at the site along Highway 97 near Stevens Road.
“I already suffer from anxiety and depression and it has put me through the roof, ” Sorensen said. “I am beyond worried, I can tell you.”
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His neighbour of 20 years — employed, but on low income — is also fearing where he will end up.
“I don’t even have a full driver’s licence, so I can’t even live in a car,” Shawn Woodley said.
The mobile home park is up for re-development. The land owner, Kerr Properties, hopes to have it rezoned to light industrial use.
Under residential tenancy guidelines for mobile home park use changes, the developer must give owners at least 12 months’ notice and $20,000 in compensation.
“What they are offering us isn’t even enough for a down payment on a house in the middle of nowhere,” Woodley said.
For renters, the notice must be at least four months and one month’s rent of compensation. In this case, renters will also receive $1,000 in relocation assistance.
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“I’m concerned about the low-income tenants who are varying degrees of handicapped. I don’t want to see them making a homeless camp in West Kelowna or going to a camp in Kelowna. Nobody wants that,” said Jim Carpenter.
Carpenter has two sons who live in the unit he owns.
It’s been determined that the trailers are too old to move and Carpenter said buying another trailer is more than $100,000.
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“If we look at other trailer parks in the West Kelowna area, some trailers of the same size and age with moderate improvements are over $200,000 in assessment,” Carpenter said.
The matter went before council on Tuesday. Despite concerns expressed by councillor Stephen Johnston and mayor Gord Milsom, the first and second readings passed unanimously, paving the way for a public hearing.
“I would like to hear from the community on it as well as Kerr properties, so I hear the concerns from the community, and I am going to support it going to public hearings so we can make those concerns known here,” Johnston said Tuesday at a council meeting.
Carpenter said he’s been attempting to contact the city, looking for answers for residents but so far has been unsuccessful.
“The City of West Kelowna has a mobile home park redevelopment policy which implies that somehow the residents will be taken care of. But I have been unsuccessful in getting answers as to exactly how, ” Carpenter said.
“The word in there is equity. Does that mean equity in housing?”
Kerr Properties did not respond to Global Okanagan’s request for more information about the compensation packages.
A public hearing will be held in the new year.
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