Old trailers not wanted
Community upset | Decision to close park means residents have nowhere to go
By MICHAEL STAPLES
staples.michael@dailygleaner.com
Published Wednesday January 23rd, 2008
Appeared on page A1
Tammy Wallace is searching for a new home for her home.
Wallace is one 14 people who will have to move their mobile homes by the end of August from the O'Donnell Land Lease Community Park off Eatmon Avenue.
The owner has decided to close the park after decades of operation.
"Our biggest issue is that the trailers in here are so old that they may not even stand to be moved," she said. "There are no parks that will take us."
Wallace said her father, who is 64, has one of the 14 units in the park and it won't stand the stress of being moved. She said he, like a lot of others, have no place to go.
"That's our biggest issue -- where are we going to go?" Wallace said. "We have income issues and cannot afford to go buy land, have it moved and have a well and septic dug. We just don't know what to do."
Park owner Blanche O'Donnell, who is 88, said she wants to get out of the business.
"We have made up our minds that we can't run it any longer," she said. "We can't do it anymore."
Her son Greg O'Donnell, who also helps with the administration of the park, cited rising costs -- such as insurance, property taxes and water bills -- as also being factors in their decision to shut down.
Greg O'Donnell, who didn't reveal what plans he may have for the property, said they will do whatever they can to help tenants make the transition, including providing letters of reference.
But that's not good enough for Gary Clarke, who has been living at the park for the last 35 years.
"Six months is not a fair deal for 35 years of living here as a community," Clarke said.
"Why are we limited to six months? Why not give us, at least, some time until we can slowly move out -- one or two at a time."
A spokesperson for Justice and Consumer Affairs said under the Residential Tenancies Act, "The landlord is required to serve each tenant a six-month written notice to terminate all the tenancies for each tenant if the landlord will no longer rent the land as mobile home sites and operate a mobile home park. The reason for terminating the tenancy must be stated in the notice of termination."
Jennifer Peterson, another resident at the park, is also frustrated.
She and her boyfriend bought their home about eight months ago and were expecting to stay.
"It's going to be really hard for us because we just got here and just got settled in," she said.
Kelly Kelly of Kellys Homes in Fredericton said unless their homes were in extremely good condition, they would never let them move into their park.
"We go by overall appearance of the home," Kelly said.
Coun. Marilyn Kerton, who represents the area, said she was looking into the situation to see what can be done and would be checking at the municipal and provincial levels.
Because the homes are older models, they will be difficult to relocate, she said.
"It's sad, very, very sad," Kerton said.
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