October Update - They Are Selling My Park
Today, October 14, 2024, there was a meeting about affordable housing which wasn't theoretical or academic. It is about the fact that They Are Selling My Park, (Olympic Village Mobile Home Park, Port Townsend, WA) something I described in May. Here's a sudden update.
Of all the folks unlucky enough to be affected and in the room, I may have been the least unlucky. Over forty people from a neighborhood of about a hundred households attended a Jefferson County Commissioners' meeting. Our neighborhood is being sold to a developer. The commissioners were unlucky enough to have to listen to dozens of stories of possible homelessness while possibly being powerless to do anything about it. Many of the residents were the unluckiest because they have even fewer options. My situation is marginally better because I have some cash reserves. Before I left the courthouse grounds, I'd already heard of neighbors possibly moving to India because they could no longer live in Port Townsend, Jefferson County, Washington State, the United States. The opposite side of the planet is their best option. Here's more of the story.
As I understand it, shortly after I bought my house (this isn't about me, but that's when I came into the story) the Park owner decided to sell. Selling a mobile home park is more than selling a blank piece of property. In our case, about a hundred households are involved. Most of the residents have been here for years. Most residents are here for affordable housing, housing they could afford on Social Security, pensions, or lower-income jobs. The county is like many counties, struggling to house people on fixed incomes or who are part of the workforce, frequently essential service jobs. They found affordable housing, and in some cases, barely affordable. Moving may not be an option because of the lack of affordable housing and the cost of moving. Mobile homes aren't always very mobile.
Let's see if I get this acronym right: ROC, Resident Owned Community. We aren't the first community to encounter such a situation. ROCs are becoming more common. The residents buy the park, sometimes through financing arranged thanks to various non-profits, like ones that enable ROCs. Such a transfer isn't easy, but it is less disruptive to the community. Evidently, two ROC offers were made and rejected. Now, an independent buyer's offer has been accepted, but there's doubt about whether it was publicly listed. I heard nothing about how the new owner would use the property. Would they continue it as a park, or develop it for a suburban neighborhood, or something else?
That's the basics, as I've heard them. The real-life details are more involved.
The commissioners were in for a long day. We were their first session, 9AM and were done shortly after. They'd go until 4:30. We weren't their only concern. The room was packed. I sat and stood in the hall as several others did. The meeting started with some ground rules: basically, address the commissioners instead of the crowd, and limit statements to two minutes because there were so many people. There was no other preamble from the commissioners as they launched right into letting the attendees speak.
Many folks there knew more than I did. I took notes that haven't been fact-checked. You are welcome to comment in the Comments section. For privacy concerns and because I am not good enough at creating a transcript, I will paraphrase and summarize. Folks familiar with affordable housing issues have probably heard it all before.
Affordability
Affordability is not a new topic. Some of the residents moved to the community over a decade ago specifically because it was affordable. Since then, inflation, a recession, and a pandemic made things less affordable. Evidently, a significant change occurred when the current owner bought the place, also over a decade ago. Since the park has gone up for sale, there has been an announcement that the rent is going from $599 to $799 per month (at least for my lot), a 33.3% increase. At the same time, local real estate costs have also risen. People feel trapped. Personally, my house assessment more than doubled. Granted, it was a small number, but an over 100% increase is hard to ignore.
Health
One measure of the residents was that, despite being inconvenient and difficult for some, three people in wheelchairs were determined to be there. Several others are caregivers. Others were dealing with health issues that aren't as apparent but as important. Managing healthcare is difficult enough. Managing a move in a tough real estate environment is more difficult, especially as it can disrupt established health care supports. A move may mean changing states, not simply moving down the street.
Age
Many residents are old enough for Social Security. As I recall, one gentleman was 89. Neighbors tell me that this has been a supportive community. Forcing someone to move at this stage of life can be incredibly complex in terms of support networks and family connections. Even if a new home can be found, being alone can be difficult.
Maintenance
People felt that maintenance is being neglected. Potholes are large, fractured, and growing - just as winter freezes are near. Some parts of the park have questionable water, possibly relating to the septic system. I've only been here five months, have been visiting the park for about a year as I shopped for a home, and can not recall seeing any evidence of maintenance beyond landscaping around the mailboxes.
Distrust
This section is difficult to write because of the sense of futility that was apparent. People were politely appealing to their local government, hoping for an injunction or something similar. I don't know what they expected. The news of the independent sale going under contract was sudden, and provided little or no time to respond aside from this meeting. Some specific questions that I heard subsequent were:
Was this a pocket listing? Is that legal in Washington State?
Can a property be sold without meeting minimum standards of health (septic) and safety (roads and signage)?
Is a 33% rent increase legal?
And, of course, the main question most frequently asked was variations on "Where can we go? We'll be homeless otherwise."
I am curious about what the county can permit. Do they have any authority to at least ensure that the property will adhere to "best and highest use" considering the county's stated priority of providing or enabling affordable housing? People found affordable housing. Why let it be taken from them?
I don't know what many others thought afterward. I was disappointed that there was no media coverage, though that may have been a consequence of the abruptness of the news. (Late report: The local paper had a reporter there. Thanks.) The longest conversation I had afterward was with the gentleman I described near the start of this article. His main option wasn't somewhere else in the city, county, or state, but in a different country on a different continent. Few will go that far, but how many will be able to stay anywhere in the area? Essential workers are going to have to move. What happens to the places they worked?
A simple bit of math came to mind later in the day. There are about 100 households involved. For every million dollars that the park is sold for, that's $10,000 per household. How much will these moves cost the residents? How much will the county spend to provide affordable housing? If the county can't provide affordable housing, how are the citizens expected to do more on their own? How can the county permit it? They may have plans to put something in place for the next park, but what about us now?
I wish there was a clearer and more positive conclusion, but I suspect this is yet another episode in what is going to be a chaotic and traumatic time for too many.