This is thought to be the reason that residents of the Midfield Mobile Home Park in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, are being evicted. Although eviction day is more than two years away, some residents say they’ll refuse to leave unless the city honors its original agreement to relocate them.
The Calgary Sun tells MHProNews that residents were given notices in May 2014 saying the city-owned manufactured home community will be closed on Sept. 30, 2017, and previous plans to build a new one in the 800 block of 84 St. N.E. have been scrapped.
Instead of being relocated, residents will be given up to $10,000 to cover the cost of moving their homes, as well as a $10,000 lump sum payment. The city is also making counselling services available.
However, that’s not good enough for Cindy MacDonald, who started a petition asking the city to honor their 2012 Go Forward Strategy commitment to build and move residents to a new manufactured home community, or, at the very least, pay the Midfield homeowners a full replacement value buy-out. “It’s devastating to be offered such a small amount,” she said.
According to McGarry & Madsen Inspection, it is not unusual to spend more than $20,000 to move a single-wide manufactured home a short distance. This may or may not include $800 to $1,500 to disconnect and reconnect the water and electrical systems, the cost of highway and transport permits, liability and property damage insurance for the move, removal of stairs and skirting, and many other needed repairs and services. Moving a manufactured home is not easy or cheap, and selling it in its present location is preferable. Unfortunately, the residents of the Midfield Mobile Home Park do not have that option.
MacDonald reiterated that the $20,000 being offered by the city is grossly inadequate. “We’ve got people in here with homes worth as much as $160,000. There is nowhere to move them, so the only option is demolition,” she explained.
In addition, she said, “We have to arrange everything. We have to make sure the lot is clear, and then we have to submit all our receipts.”
MacDonald said a recent count shows that 304 people live in the community with 107 being seniors. Seven are veterans.
Fellow resident Betty Chisholm is adamant she won’t leave. “I’m staying,” she said. “I’m digging in. “I’ve got a mortgage, I can’t afford to go someplace else and pay rent … and they’ve got you over a barrel because they’ve more or less made your house worthless by saying they’re kicking us out with no place to go.”
Area counselor Gian-Carlo Carra said he sympathizes with the residents, but the cost of building a new “park” forced the city to change the arrangements originally offered. “We looked at the dollars and cents of building a new mobile home park, and competing with the private sector on that just did not make any dollars and sense,” he said. “It’s sad when things change and people who are vulnerable are put at risk, but that’s why the council gave them several years.”
Built in 1968, the city took over operation of Midfield Mobile Home Park in 1973, and it has been run by Calgary Housing Company since 2001. The cost of replacing aging sewer and water pipes has been cited as a reason for the closure, which officials estimated in 2011 to be around $20 million. ##
(Photo Credit: Calgary Sun)
Article Submitted by Sandra Lane to – Daily Business News- MHProNews.
