Riverdale mobile home park tenants offered money to help with move | News, Sports, Jobs

RIVERDALE — Owners of the Riverdale mobile home park being evicted to make way for development are offering $1,500 to $3,000 if residents leave early.

Some residents have expressed concern about the financial hit they could face when leaving Leslie’s Mobile Home Park, given the higher-than-usual cost of renting an apartment or other housing type. “As we prepare to officially close the park on May 31, 2023, park owners have offered to help alleviate some of the financial burden of vacating the park. ,” said the park manager in a letter sent last Friday, provided by a former resident.

According to the offer, tenants will receive $3,000 if they move in and turn over the keys and title to the mobile home by February 1, just over two weeks away. If you move out by March 1st, you will receive $1,500.

Representatives for Mobile Home Park did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday. However, according to Leslie’s letter, some of them express skepticism about the only offer offered to residents.

“I think you’re kidding,” said former resident Tonya Rotunda, pointing to the cost of finding another place to live and the emotional pain of having to move. She said, “I’ve had to borrow money from just about everyone I know. It puts me in a really, really dark place mentally.”

Minerva Gallegos, who still lives at Lesley’s, pointed out that she has a short window of time to meet the February 1 deadline to win $3,000. “I’m moving in two weeks. It’s just impossible to find another place,” she said, noting the relatively high rent for the apartment.

News of a proposed redevelopment of the lot on which Lesley’s is located surfaced last year and has since caused consternation among some residents. No formal redevelopment proposals have yet emerged, but Riverdale officials last year rezoned the land on which Lesley’s is located to allow apartment and townhome developments, and said that those involved in the planning would be rezoned. one spoke about pursuing a “multi-family project.” Late last summer, representatives at Lesley’s, which is owned by an organization called H&H 39th Street, sent a notice to residents informing them they had until May 31st to leave.

Due to the shortage of affordable housing above and below the Wasatch front, the closure of mobile home parks like Leslie’s (relatively low-cost housing options) is a cause for concern for low-income tenants in such locations. It has become. The continued closure of Cedarwood Mobile Homes in Layton has similarly caused concern among residents.

Just last week, a former Leslie resident and her nephew were arrested on arson charges. .

Despite the uproar, many people have already left Lesley’s home, evidenced by boarding up doorways and windows in the vacant lot and many empty rooms.Lesley’s has 55 lots of mobile homes. there is.

Still, it was a tumultuous process. The belongings of some who left are scattered outside on their original land. Some vacant units show evidence of forced entry, possibly by squatters or those trying to clean up items left behind.

Jason Williams, who remains at Leslie’s house and is looking for a park to accommodate his unit, said a neighbor vacated her unit near him and then broke into. Gallegos, who is open and also lives nearby, said he twice saw a stranger who appeared to be from the unit.

“I thought he might just live there, but I don’t know,” she said.

Rotunda, who now lives in an apartment in Ogden, locked the unit after moving in and left several items behind in the hope that she could retrieve them later. rice field.

Elsewhere, discarded belongings are piled up in some outdoor lots whitened by Sunday’s snowfall. “When people removed trailers or were kicked out, this was what was left,” Williams said.

Meanwhile, the clock ticks towards a deadline facing Leslie’s residents. “No other incentives will be offered. If you do not take advantage of this offer, you must vacate without financial assistance from the owner by May 31, 2023,” Leslie’s letter read. I’m here.

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