Manufactured-home residents 'hope for best' after land sale finalized timescolonist.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from timescolonist.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Residents of the park own their homes, which range in assessed value from $25,000 to $300,000, and pay a monthly rent for the land. Rob Jolly and Laurina Norris, who were preparing to sell their manufactured home before they received notice the park was up for sale, are feeling more optimistic they’ll have a fair resolution after hearing from a representative of the new owner Thursday morning. The couple has moved to the Interior but has been stuck paying about $1,300 to $1,500 a month for rent and utilities for the empty home for more than a year. “[The owner’s representative] said: ‘What do you want to make you whole?’ ” Jolly said. “As a pitch, it doesn’t get better than that.”
And how can the city afford expensive Christmas decorations but can’t afford to livestream their meetings? It appears they have taken advantage of the pandemic to push controversial zoning through, ignoring public input and their taxpayers’ wishes. Langford is allowing so many mega buildings built right up to the sidewalks, there is no room left to widen streets, leave trees or green space. Every square inch of developable land is being filled in, making Langford the new Colwood Crawl. It’s time to shake things up at Langford City Hall, and get some accountability from the mayor and his cohorts working together to build on every available inch of this once enjoyable city.
The land, part of a larger 50-acre parcel, is set to be sold next week, with plans to reduce the park to 41 homes. Peter Kedge, president of the Tri-Way Park Residents Association, said residents understand landowners have the right to sell, and provincial and federal legislation provides residents with financial compensation, but that money won’t be enough to keep some adequately housed. “The level of anxiety is very hard to overestimate. There are some folks here who may have some financial cushion. There are others who have literally month-to-month and the equity in their homes. So the possibility that the park will be closed is daunting for many,” Kedge said.