Close to 30 unhappy Sundre residents attended the governance meeting on June 10 to fight for the right to replace mobile homes in Valley Mobile Home Park.
In April, east side park owners Blair and Gloria Jensen were informed that the replacement of mobile homes in the park is not permissible.
Town of Sundre officials informed the owners after they applied to bring a new mobile home into the park.
“Erin's (the Town of Sundre's manager of planning and development) job is to enforce what exists in the land use bylaw and the Municipal Development Plan and the Municipal Government Act,” said Dean Pickering, the town's chief administrative officer.
“When they applied to put a new trailer on the site, Erin went back and looked at the files and investigated, and determined that based on those three documents, that no, you can't replace a trailer with a new trailer,” he explained.
Town officials sent the documents to a lawyer for review and the lawyer gave an opinion on what the town should do, he said.
He said town officials have had several discussions with the Jensens and that the definition of a trailer has changed from when the original owners of the park applied for a permit in the 1960s.
“The municipality has said they will not allow replacement trailers under the existing legislation,” said Laura Skorodenski, friend of the Jensens' and articling student with Coots Olsen law.
Skorodenski spoke to council during the governance meeting regarding the issue, along with about 10 other individuals.
“The point I was making was that I think they can allow the develop permits to replace the mobiles under existing legislation, because the existing legislation allows for non-conforming buildings if the use of land is consistent with that purpose,” she explained.
“While the park is currently in an area that is not zoned as a mobile home park, prior to that zoning there was a permit for a mobile home park to be there and because that permit existed before the zoning existed, it survives,” she said, adding that a mobile home park is a use, not a building.
She said there is no room for new mobile homes in the park, but to replace existing mobile homes is essential in keeping the park alive.
Since the Jensens purchased the park in 2004, two development permits for two mobile homes to be replaced in the park have been applied for, she said.
“What the town is saying is not that they're shutting the park down, but the effect of not being able to replace mobiles in the park means that it will eventually have to be shut down because it will no longer be economically feasible to keep it running,” she said.
“One of the bigger issues of this whole thing is that there is only actually 11 lots in that area and there is 28 trailers,” said Pickering.
“If they replace an old, smaller trailer because of flood or fire, even just removing it, they won't meet any of the setbacks because all of the new trailers are much bigger today than the old ones,” he explained.
“And you can't just move an old trailer into a spot where an old trailer was because there are certain provincial code standards to trailers and our bylaw also says the trailer can only be 10 years old,” he said.
During the meeting, several residents from the mobile home park expressed their concerns to council.
Tearing up, Joice Bernelt said that if the mobile homes in the park are not replaceable, then the residents will have nowhere to go.
“I don't understand your thinking; it's ridiculous,” said park resident Randy Solinski.
“I would love to raise my children here without any hassle,” said Chris Lennox.
“We all take pride in our community. This isn't fair,” said Erin Halliday.
Sundre mayor Annette Clews said she agrees with the residents.
“I appreciate all of you showing up here tonight and I'm with you on this,” Coun. Tony Jordan.
He expressed concern over the issue and said he grew up in a mobile home.
“I know this council very well and it's not our intention in any way to put hardship on anyone,” said Coun. Myron Thompson.
“Just for the record, council is not trying to throw anybody out of their homes,” said Coun. Chris Vardas.
“We've given the owner of the trailer park a number of options of how she can apply to change it. So we're not saying that it can't be done, but there is a process that she has to go through,” said Pickering.
The issue will be brought back to council in July, he said.
“We're walking through a process. We're not denying it. We're not trying to get rid of trailers - that's not the issue at all,” he said.
“But in the long-term 25- to 30-year plan for that area, just like it was in the last municipal development plan, it is listed as an industrial area.”
