I am writing to address the comments made by the owners of Coachman mobile park at the village council meeting on Oct. 14.
Mr. Kostuch stated a village policy for mobile home parks is not needed and would discourage investors who make rental properties available. I and many other people I know in the village strongly disagree. A mobile home park policy would encourage investors to keep their properties as mobile home rental parks, thus keeping this type of affordable housing in Nakusp. Without a policy, park owners are more likely to redevelop, reap the windfalls, leaving families, seniors, and others with the extremely high costs of moving or worse yet homeless.
I know seniors on fixed incomes, that live in their own homes in rental parks. They certainly cannot afford to move their mobiles with only being given 12 months pad rent as compensation! Moving mobiles cost several thousands of dollars, money most seniors on fixed incomes don’t have. They also face the strong possibility of having no where else to move their home to, leaving them without their home. Affordable housing for seniors and those on fixed incomes/low incomes are in short supply and very difficult to find in Nakusp. The village needs to develop a policy to help keep mobile home parks here and protect those that live in the parks.
I live at the Arrowtarian seniors complex. I know that if the Rotary, or if sold to a private owner, decided to redevelop and evict the seniors living here, the village would protect us. Mobile home owners in rental parks deserve the same protection by way of a mobile home park policy.