P.E.I. mobile home park tells residents to buy their lot or move out
More than a hundred people living in a mobile home park in Summerside, P.E.I., have been told to pay up or move out.
Fifty-seven households in the Evergreen Village received a letter in the mail from the landlord stating, due to rising costs, the park will need to be sold.
The letter says residents have the choice to buy their current lot for $40,000 and keep their homes where they are.
"Since the roadways, water and sewer in Evergreen Village are privately-owned, to sell the lots individually and have Evergreen Village continue, the residents would need to form their own condo co-operative," reads the letter.
The letter says at least 50 per cent of residents would need to purchase their own lots, while those who don't want to or are unable to would be given one-year notice to relocate their home.
Residents have until Oct. 31 to inform the landlord if they are able to form a condo co-operative involving at least half of the current residents who are able to pay $40,000.
If not, the letter says all residents will be given one-year notice to relocate their home.
Homes at the Evergreen Village in Summerside, P.E.I., are pictured. (CTV Atlantic/Josh Smith)
'Where do we go?'
Shelley Bond and her partner moved from Ontario three years ago and found their new home at the mobile home park. She says buying her lot isn't an option.
"Well, we can’t afford $40,000. There’s no way," said Bond.
"If we have to relocate, this trailer is not going to be moved. It’s too old, it will crumble… There’s 100 people in this park… We’re semi-retired, our neighbours just moved in a month ago, they’re semi-retired. Where do we go?”
Stephanie Harris says the news has created a lot of uncertainty for her and her family.
"It's scary not knowing what we need to do. If we need to move our trailer, if we need to move our children from everything they know," she said.
Stephanie Harris, who lives in Evergreen Village in Summerside, P.E.I., is pictured. (CTV Atlantic/Josh Smith)
Landlord looks for options for residents
The park's landlord Clifford McQuaid – who is the president of Camco Incorporated which owns Evergreen Village – said in the letter that he's met with the city and the province to see if there are any existing programs where low-interest loans could be offered to residents. However, the letter says there are currently no such programs available at this time.
On Monday, city officials met with more than 100 members of the Evergreen community. Summerside Mayor Dan Kutcher says they’re working on a solution.
"I think Oct. 31 is a completely unreasonable period of time for the residents. You can't drop something like that on someone and give them so little time to be able to respond," said Kutcher.
"To even consider a co-op, we have to get everybody to the table, us working with the residents to understand where things are, where they want to go and take step-by-step and do everything we can to support the residents."
'Work with us'
For now, residents are left weighing their options and hoping the park's ownership changes their mind.
"Our first course of action is maybe seeing if it's a money thing, if raising the lot rent would be enough, so then we can just keep it as a trailer park and have everybody be able to keep their homes, because not everybody's going to be able to purchase," said Harris.
“I would just ask them to please work with us, to be reasonable," said Bond.
"Give us some time, a lot more time than he’s offering, and sit down with us maybe and talk with all of us and with the city.”
CTV News reached out to McQuaid, who declined an interview.
For more P.E.I. news, visit our dedicated provincial page
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
N.B. Liberals will form majority government; Holt to become province's first female premier
CTV News is projecting the New Brunswick Liberals will form a majority government in the province, returning to power for the first time since 2018. Leader Susan Holt will become the first female premier of the province.
Major Toronto hospital network reinstates masking requirement
The University Health Network is making masks mandatory as respiratory illness season ramps up.
Investigation ongoing into death of 19-year-old Walmart employee in Halifax
The investigation into the sudden death of a 19-year-old Walmart employee over the weekend is ongoing in Halifax.
2 plead guilty to B.C. murder of former Air India suspect Ripudaman Singh Malik
Two men charged in the killing of former Air India bombing suspect Ripudaman Singh Malik have pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in a British Columbia court.
Former B.C. premier Christy Clark wants to be 'part of the conversation' on Liberal party future
As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faces growing pressure to step aside, former B.C. premier Christy Clark says she is open to 'returning to politics' should the position of Liberal leader become available.
Death toll from B.C. atmospheric river climbs as driver found dead, another presumed drowned
Mounties on Vancouver Island say one person is dead and another is presumed to have drowned after two vehicles were found submerged in a river following heavy rains that washed out roadways across British Columbia.
Are you a Canadian stuck in Cuba without power? We want to hear from you
Daily life in Cuba has been largely affected since an outage led to a nationwide blackout in the country, followed by Tropical Storm Oscar hitting the country's east coast. If you're a Canadian stuck in Cuba through this ordeal, CTV News wants to hear from you.
Alleged assassination target calls expelled Indian high commissioner 'less of a diplomat and more of a hypocrite'
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun — a dual Canada-United States citizen and the target of an alleged assassination attempt in New York City last year — says the expelled Indian High Commissioner to Canada, Sanjay Kumar Verma, is 'less of a diplomat, and more of a hypocrite.'
Teen in custody after 5 found dead in shooting at home in Washington state, police say
Law enforcement officials found five people killed in a shooting inside a home southeast of Seattle on Monday morning and took a teenager into custody, police said.