Politicians declare trailer park land surplus, sparking residents’ sale fears

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Residents of a municipally owned seasonal trailer park in Elgin County are concerned after being caught off-guard by local politicians’ intention to sell the property.

Open annually from May to October, Port Glasgow Trailer Park – about 70 kilometres southwest of London – belongs to the Municipality of West Elgin, and recently was declared “surplus” by politicians, paving the way for the property’s sale.

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Blindsided by the announcement, eight-year trailer park resident Adam Lumley said the park’s potential sale “was the last thing I was expecting to hear.”

Lumley, 43, who works remotely, lives in his 42-foot trailer home “90 per cent” of the months the park is open, he said. He’s added an enclosed deck and bar area to the trailer.

Mario Dabek, a trailer park resident from Cambridge, has a 37-foot trailer and, like Lumley, has built an additional enclosure. He says he’s spent more than $50,000 on the trailer and renovations since moving into the park late last year with the expectation it would serve as a weekend getaway for his family for at least a decade.

“I’m pretty disappointed,” Dabek said.

Added Lumley: “None of us had any idea and why they would choose to do this at the end of the season, and then choose to make the announcement two weeks after the park’s closed when all of the residents are gone and a majority of them don’t live in the area.”

Lumley was trying to create a co-operative of residents to “basically run and own the park” before a Facebook post by West Elgin Ward 2 Coun. Bill Denning “popped up,” he said.

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Denning directed The Free Press to the municipality’s chief administrator, who wasn’t available for comment Friday. Denning’s social media post noted the matter initially was discussed in a closed session and could now proceed and “unfold with full transparency.”

“Although (the trailer park) is mostly self-sustaining, it still requires staff and council time and resources to manage and operate,” Denning stated.

But Lumley pointed out the trailer park had accumulated a significant reserve fund of about $900,000 from park fees. “There’s lots of money there for us to continue on as we have been for decades,” Lumley said.

Supervisors from the trailer park weren’t available for comment, but Lumley said there were about 150 lots, and many residents are retirees. But the demographic that would be affected most were “snowbirds” who live in the park full-time between May and October, Lumley said.

“They’ve got a six-month residence down in Florida or Texas, and then they’ve got a six-month residence up here,” Lumley said. “They don’t have an additional home here.”

Although Dabek and Lumley have both renovated their trailers on the property, there are others, such as double-wide trailers, that would be even more costly to relocate if the park were sold.

West Elgin politicians have scheduled an upcoming meeting with Port Glasgow Trailer Park residents about the matter.

bwilliams@postmedia.com

@BrianWatLFPress

The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada

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