Mobile-home-park deal could force out seniors

Symbols of spring abound in these Lynnwood neighborhoods: vibrant daffodils and tulips, carefully potted flower baskets, rainbow-hued windsocks, whimsical Easter bunnies.

But the seasonal celebration of rebirth has been spoiled for many senior residents, who suddenly fear the demise of their communities and their way of life.

About two weeks ago, word rushed through two adjoining mobile-home parks near the intersection of 44th Avenue West and 174th Place Southwest: The land beneath their residences had been sold to local developer Michael Echelbarger.

Maria Ambalada, a neighborhood activist, spread the word on foot, knocking on nearly 100 doors to rally residents to pack a City Council meeting the next night, April 10.

"I was getting everyone roused up," said Ambalada, 70, who has lived in The Squires, one of the two parks, since 1994. "Most seniors have no place to go. There's a three- to five-year waiting list for affordable housing."

Both parks are occupied by residents over 55 who own their homes and pay $490 a month to lease their land. Echelbarger said an estimated 75 percent of the single- and double-wide homes are too aged — about 35 years old — and too flimsy to move.

Echelbarger, who plans to redevelop the 10-acre, $6.8 million site with 70 single-family houses, attended the council meeting, too. If somebody wants to buy the land to save the mobile-home parks, he's willing to sell, he said. He assured residents they probably wouldn't have to move before June 2007, and he told them about a state program that could help with relocation costs.

Two potential buyers since have contacted Echelbarger, including the Housing Authority of Snohomish County.

The housing agency bought another threatened mobile-home park about 10 years ago and redeveloped it with nearly 50 new manufactured homes for low-income families. That property, Thomas Place, just north of Mill Creek, had been a "really deteriorated little trailer park" with a failed septic system, said Bob Davis, the agency's executive director.

Thomas Place was purchased and improved with federal community-development funds, state housing-trust money and tax-exempt debt, he said.

Davis last week said it's "theoretically possible" for his agency to use similar means to purchase The Squires and neighboring Kingsbury East, which he called "nice places to live." The city counted 93 homes in the two parks in 2002.

They differ from Thomas Place, he said, because they aren't trailer parks where residences can be hooked to a truck and easily towed away. Most of the mobile homes — many of them double-wides — are 35 years old and surrounded by mature trees and flowering shrubs.

"They are affordable, and people have established a nice sense of community," Davis said. "Obviously, the neighbors get to know each other. They have mobilized pretty quick."

Ambalada tries to fight the "trailer park" stigma, too.

"We're homeowners. That's what people forget," Ambalada said. "Some people look down on us. I feel like a turtle, carrying my house on my back."

The parks were in the countryside when they were created, back when nearby Highway 99 was the region's main highway. Now they're surrounded by apartments and other dense housing.

"They were built for a different economic time. The communities that have grown up around them are different," Davis said. "They're at risk."

The Lynnwood council has struggled for several years with underlying zoning issues. Its long-range-planning document, created in the mid-1990s to comply with the state Growth Management Act, designated the two mobile-home parks for apartments. But the city's older zoning rules for the properties, which allowed only large-lot houses, weren't changed.

In 2001, the council voted down a proposal to rezone the land for apartments. The next year, the council voted down a proposal to change the planning document to match the existing zoning. Then in 2003, a compromise was approved, creating a new designation that would allow small-lot single-family homes.

Echelbarger said the parks' longtime owners, Loran and Wanda Stewart, and Donald and Marjorie Potter, approached him about buying their properties. They are in their 70s and 80s, he said, and no longer wanted the burden of park management.

The real question, he said, is the long-term fate of all 17 mobile-home parks in Lynnwood. As the homes age and the economy changes, it's inevitable that they will be replaced by new developments, he said.

"If they don't redevelop in 2006, is it better to redevelop when they are 40 years old or 45 years old? It causes human suffering ... but they have to redevelop for the benefit of the entire city."

Echelbarger has promised to spend $100,000 to $200,000 on consultant studies to help residents relocate, including creating individual recommendations for each home. He understands their issues; his mother-in-law once lived in Kingsbury East.

But that doesn't alleviate the fears of residents such as Joan Hohlbein, 93, who moved to The Squires about 10 years ago. Most residents are single women, she said, with a scattering of married couples and single men.

"Many of us paid cash and haven't got a penny in the bank," said Hohlbein, who lives with her dachshund, Stubby, and a male cat named She.

City Councilman Mark Smith has taken a special interest in their problem. He spent a lot of time in those two parks while campaigning for office last fall, he said. He already has met with Davis to discuss a potential Housing Authority involvement.

"Many of them are retired; many are on fixed incomes. They're struggling to get by," Smith said. "Mobile homes are some of the lowest-rent homes available that allow seniors to still have a measure of independence and still live in a community. I hope all sides really work for collaboration and find a solution that everybody can be satisfied with."

Diane Brooks: 425-745-7802 or dbrooks@seattletimes.com