Residents of a mobile home park in Mission are fearful for their future with the potential closure of the park looming.

Ken Babichuk has been living at the Grove Mobile Home Park off Lougheed Highway for four years. He said he plans to live there until he dies.

However, his options would be limited should the park close to make way for a new development.

鈥淚鈥檒l become homeless,鈥� Babichuk said.

There are 25 homes at the Grove and over 35 residents 鈥� all of whom are seniors. Dave Nash, who has lived at the Grove for three years, says homelessness is a possibility for most residents.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a very real risk with a good number of people in the park that they will not be able to find any affordable housing and we鈥檙e putting people out on the street. There will be some members in the park that will have nowhere to go 鈥� they鈥檒l be living in a tent,鈥� Nash said.

The newest owners of the property sent a letter to residents by mail on March 7 informing them of plans to redevelop the mobile home park into a multi-family residential and commercial project.

According to the letter, the owners are targeting 2025 for the beginning of construction and have completed a pre-application review with City of Mission planning staff.

鈥淲hen you had to put pen to paper, that really created a stir,鈥� Nash said.

鈥淚t鈥檚 caused an immense amount of stress to a vulnerable population. You have seniors, you have disabled seniors, you have seniors with complex care needs, and to throw this at us out of the blue 鈥� there are a couple of folks that said that it鈥檚 really impacted their health badly.鈥�

In the past, local realtor Paula Blamey sold homes in the Grove to some of its residents. She is currently helping to advocate on behalf of the people living there.

鈥淭hey had no impression that this was going to happen and they鈥檝e really had the rug pulled from underneath them,鈥� Blamey said.

She says the park stopped taking applications for new tenants early last year, leaving the current residents unable to sell.

Most of the mobile homes also aren鈥檛 actually mobile. Blamey says only two of the homes could be moved in the event of a closure, while the rest would fall apart.

鈥淓ver since they stopped taking applications in the park, these folks are actually stuck where they are. They cannot leave and their value 鈥� you don鈥檛 really have any resale value if the park is no longer going to take in new tenants,鈥� she said.

According to the City of Mission, there are no official applications in stream to develop the property.

At the April 15 meeting, council unanimously resolved to take action to protect manufactured home tenants.

City staff will research measures taken in other municipalities to protect tenants and investigate whether a moratorium can be put in place on the redevelopment of manufactured home parks until a policy is adopted.

Council is aiming to bring a bylaw or policy forward for consideration by May 21, with a potential moratorium coming forward at the next council meeting.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think anybody on council fails to understand the importance of making sure the residents in the mobile home park are properly accounted for and listened to and treated with not only respect but quite frankly 鈥� be able to keep their homes or find a place that鈥檚 a suitable replacement in an orderly fashion,鈥� Horn said.

While no application has been submitted to the city, Horn says they expect anyone who comes forward to treat people with respect, dignity and concern for their physical well-being.

A group of Grove residents attended the April 15 council meeting to see how the mayor鈥檚 motion would unfold. Nash, Babichuk and Blamey all praised council鈥檚 reaction to the situation.

鈥淲e have a mayor and council that are forward-looking, compassionate, and really understand the issue we鈥檙e trying to bring to them,鈥� Nash said.

Prince Rupert legal advocate Paul Lagace specializes in cases involving manufactured home park tenants. He is working with the Grove residents and says his goal is to ensure the tenants get their fair due.

鈥淲hen you have millions of dollars at stake with vulnerable populations, they can be taken advantage of. We just don鈥檛 know in this case. So I always make the presumption that that could happen. That鈥檚 the common denominator,鈥� Lagace said.

He says roughly 40 municipalities in the province have bylaws or policies in place that provide protections for tenants, in addition to the requirements under the provincial Manufactured Home Park Tenancy Act from 2018. Before 2018, there was no protection.

鈥淭o oversimplify, there鈥檚 nothing really preventing anyone from closing the park 鈥� that is always permitted. What is now in place is, at least there鈥檚 fair compensation related to that,鈥� Lagace said.

When provincial protections were put in place six years ago, Lagace says manufactured home parks were both affordable and available places. Now, they鈥檙e full.

鈥淭his is the B.C. reality everywhere. There鈥檚 nothing affordable and nothing available,鈥� he said.

Lagace says nobody wants to be kicked out but hopes to find an agreement that works if it鈥檚 going to happen.

Nash says compensation likely wouldn鈥檛 cover a move to a similar situation in a neighbouring community.

鈥淚f we have to close that park, it鈥檚 not a win-win, it鈥檚 a win-lose. If we have to close that park, and we鈥檙e put into a situation where our affordable housing is gone 鈥� we鈥檙e hooped,鈥� Nash said.

Babichuk says it would be difficult to find a new place that would accommodate his service dog as well.

鈥淚t鈥檚 sort of ludicrous to kick people out when [the province is] scrambling to get housing for people. We all bought our trailers 鈥� we鈥檙e not renting 鈥� we bought. And we鈥檙e not looking for some income to come out of it. We were there just to live,鈥� Babichuk said.

Despite the challenges, Grove residents have found themselves united on the issue.

鈥淥ne of the realities of the situation we鈥檙e in is it鈥檚 galvanized us as a community,鈥� Nash said.

Moving forward, the group hopes to meet with the developer to bring some of the issues to the table.

鈥淲e can鈥檛 stop a development, necessarily. We maybe don鈥檛 have the power to do that. But we are an organized group, who are not going to back down at this point,鈥� Blamey said.

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