Letha McCrary got an unwelcome late Christmas present from her property manager.
She and 12 to 15 other residents at Gaslight Village, a mobile home park at 1900 W. 31st St., were served eviction notices the day after Christmas. The notices informed them that they have until Feb. 1 to select from vacant lots set aside in the park or move elsewhere to make room for development connected with the Home Depot project.
Gaslight Village resident Letha McCrary is one of about 12 to 15 residents who are being forced to move their mobile homes onto different lots to make room for the Home Depot project. McCrary was one of the more than 120 residents forced to move within the park in 2000. She is unsure which lot to choose in order to avoid having to move again.
It's like d vu for McCrary, who was among more than 120 residents involved in the first exodus of trailers from the park. In the spring of 2000, the southwest portion of the park was conditionally rezoned from residential to commercial property, necessitating moves by tenants.
Back then, McCrary opted to buy a home on another lot in the park, but now she's not sure which new lot to choose because she fears future development will force her to move yet again.
"I'm not against moving. I figured it would come," McCrary said. "But what I'm wondering is which end of this park should I move to? Next year at this time, am I going to get another notice?"
Property manager Gus Horner said he couldn't predict what would happen, but he said residents shouldn't worry about another move soon.
"At the present time we have no plans to sell any more of the property," he said. "To tell you the truth, the developers who we sold this first batch to went through such a tough battle I don't think they'd want to do it again."
The upcoming move is necessary, Horner said, to make room for the expansion of Ousdahl Road north from 31st Street and a buffer zone along the north property line. The elements were required by the city before it would approve the Home Depot site plan.
Affected residents have expressed concern about the financial burden of moving.
"I know we've got people out here on welfare that are going to have to move," McCrary said. "We've got people on fixed income. I'm on fixed income. People don't realize that by the time you pay to have your license changed and to disconnect and connect up utilities they don't do that for nothing."
But Horner said residents wouldn't have to fork out a penny if they stayed in the park. A letter to tenants said the park owners would "provide financial assistance" for relocation within the park.
"Financial includes whatever it takes to reset the house, change over the utilities, anything like that," he said. "There's going to be nothing out-of-pocket to the residents themselves."
He estimated it would cost between $50,000 and $80,000 to move and set up all the affected homes on new lots.
Limited financial assistance might be available to people who choose to relocate outside the park, Horner said.
But some residents aren't all that satisfied despite the reassurances from park management.
Longtime Gaslight Village tenants Ed and Margie Hackett were out of town for the holidays and found out about the impending move from their sister-in-law. They said they'd been told after the last move that no more lots would be taken.
"We have spent over 20 years on that lot, planting trees and flowers," Margie Hackett said. "Now it is just move. And they just raised our lot rent this month. They have taken the pool out, the basketball court, the playground, club house and told us that all carports and fences will be taken out when we move. What will be left? Nothing."
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