Eviction day at mobile home park
Tight, costly rental market awaits those displaced
As he literally tore apart his Penticton home Sunday to prepare for eviction, Stephen Tozer took some solace in knowing things could be worse.
The 73-year-old is one of dozens of residents of Delta Mobile Home Park who were told in May they would have to be out by today.
Tozer paid $575 per month to lease the property under his converted camping trailer for the past 4 1/2 years and will be hard pressed to find a similar deal elsewhere.
“I’m not hurting for money, but if I have to go another $500 a month or something, you’re cutting into my food,” he said.
For now, the pensioner will have his trailer towed to his son’s property and stay there as he attempts to buy a plot of land in Olalla, which is under the jurisdiction of the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen and therefore has relatively loose building bylaws.
“I don’t want to lease anymore. I want 15 years of solace. I can’t go through this again,” said Tozer.
Other displaced residents will have to take their chances in a tight Penticton rental market. As of October 2017, the most recent period for which data is available, the local vacancy rate stood at just 0.9 per cent and the average two-bedroom apartment rented for $951 per month.
Tozer had hoped to hear from social service agencies about help that may be available to him, but said he’s been ignored.
“Nobody’s come over and said, ‘Is there anything we can do for you? Is there something we can help you with?” he added.
A map of the park shows 40 lots, although some have been empty for years. About half of those that were occupied had proper mobile homes on them, while the rest were a motley collection of recreational vehicles and shacks.
As of Sunday, many of the lots were heaped with discarded belongings and building materials that had been stripped from trailers before moving.
Delta is on locatee land owned by Fred Kruger and his siblings, all members of the Penticton Indian Band. As such, residents aren’t protected by legislation that requires them to be compensated for homes that can’t be moved.
Kruger didn’t return a call for comment Sunday.
A sign near the entrance to Delta states the land is available for lease as a business park.