Rezoning of West Kelowna mobile home park paused, for now

West Kelowna council has chosen to pause the rezoning of a mobile home park for the time being.

After a nearly two hour public hearing Tuesday evening, council put a pause on the proposed rezoning of 2355 Marshall Road, home to the Shady Acres Mobile home Park, to light industrial.

However, they made it clear the site was set to be redeveloped in the future.

For now, the rezoning decision has been postponed to give the owners and developers, Kerr Properties, more time to work with residents who will be relocated once the development process begins.

The emotional public hearing saw more than 30 people in attendance, with many voicing great concern about a lack of housing options or a lack of assistance in finding a new home.

Of the 27 manufactured home pads and one house on the property, 18 are rented and the remaining 10 are owned.

Previous staff reports have said that many of the tenants are lower income, on disability assistance or fixed pensions.

Kerr Properties has a relocation assistance program in place.

A handful of homeowners have chosen to take a payment for the 2023 assessment of their home, plus around 10% and a one-time $1,000 payment.

People who rent will receive four months notice to vacate (which was issued this month) plus one month free rent, under the BC Tenancy Act, plus an additional relocation payment of $1,000.

So far, only two of the 27 residents have found new homes.

In making its decision to postpone the rezoning until later this spring, West Kelowna City Council members believed more community organizations and the province ought to be engaged, suggesting that the developer may not be adequately equipped with dealing with the park residents.

Coun. Stephen Johnston suggested the city provide a “safe space” for the developer and tenants to discuss the relocation, citing tension between the two parties.

“We have to make sure there is actually housing for people. We understand that what they are wanting is in line with the OCP but there is a humanitarian element to this too right? We have to make sure people are housed,” coun. Johnston said, adding that some residents need extra care and help navigating the housing system.

Coun. Johnston put out a call to local organizations to offer some help to the developer and residents to navigate the relocation process, including helping tenants find new homes, especially those who may have mental health struggles.

“For those non-profit organizations who are listening, please, if you have the opportunities or resources available to assist this owner (Kerr Properties) to help these people get housed and you know of opportunities, please reach out,” said coun. Johnston, asking Interior Health and the provincial government to step up.

“We have people to be housed now or they will be on the streets. We have demolition permits that have been issued …a lot of these people are one a four-month (timeline).”

Coun. Rick de Jong called it one of the tougher applicants the city had dealt with, but said he supported the rezoning of the property and told tenants they need to accept that the property will become an industrial use, as indicated under the city’s OCP future land designation.

However, he acknowledged that the developer had a responsibility to provide assistance.

“I need to know that (the assistance) has been provided to all, to the best of their ability,” said coun. De Jong, recognizing that the applicant may be limited but needed to get creative.

“Frankly, at this point, I don’t have confidence that this has taken place.”

Coun. de Jong said he wanted to see the applicant step up in a “much greater capacity.”

Coun. Jason Friesen said he did feel for the residents of the mobile home park, calling the situation unpleasant but wondered where the province was in the whole situation.

“What it does definitely highly is a woeful lack of investment that the province has put in West Kelowna for affordable housing,” coun. Friesen says.

“My second fear is that no matter how much work we do or how much work the developer does, we may not find homes for all these people. Our reporting alluded to the fact that there are a number of areas that had waiting lists and that’s a problem.”

Coun. Friesen called the number of affordable homes, which is estimated at about 114 units, pitiful.

Council said they hoped the developer would do more in helping residents in relocating, but added that it was not fully on them to find homes but only to facilitate the assistance process.

The decision has been rescheduled for a meeting in March.