Light a candle for Country Aire Manor Park in Puyallup, a mobile home community where residents have been displaced to make way for another multi-million-dollar shopping center.



In January 2008 more than 150 Country Aire residents received word that the land underneath their homes was being sold so local representatives of a national development company could build a retail center, which will be anchored by Kohl’s Department Store. Expanded shopping options come as cold comfort to residents such as the 93-year-old woman who was forced to move into an apartment where the bathroom and bedroom are too far apart, and where she shattered her ankle trying to get to the toilet. There’s little comfort for the Donery family, all of whom shared a home at Country Aire, all of whom have debilitating illnesses such as cancer, and all of whom weren’t sure how they were going to survive forced relocation. Nor is there any comfort for several residents who had to abandon the homes they owned because there was nowhere to move them, or because they couldn’t afford to.



Giving credit where credit is due, most moved with help provided by local development representative Verus Group LLC, which spent more than $70,000 out of pocket to assist the families they were forcing out of their homes. They even hired a full-time staff person to help residents with relocation. If that sounds generous, consider that a state Department of Community Trade and Economic Development program would have provided $12,000 in assistance to each resident — an amount that several residents said would fall short of what they needed to move. Divided among 150 residents, $70,000 doesn’t even come close. Verus offered the meager sum because a flood of similar mass displacements throughout Washington has drained the state program dry. More than 50 mobile home parks like Country Aire Manor have closed or been converted since 2006, affecting nearly 2,000 households.



“It’s always difficult when you’re looking at moving a mobile home park,” says Jim Kneeland of Pacific Public Affairs and spokesman for Verus. “They know it’s disruptive and want to make it painless as possible. But that area has changed significantly, and (a mobile home park) wasn’t the best use of the property. A shopping center will produce about 300 jobs and significantly add to the tax base.”



Tell that to Country Aire resident Tanya Deutsche, who told me last year that she simply couldn’t imagine moving from her home, regardless of how much assistance is offered, regardless of the tax and job benefits. Deutsch is developmentally disabled and lives on state assistance with her 13-year-old daughter, who is also developmentally disabled. She moved to Country Aire in late 2006 to get a new start after losing her husband of just two and a half years to cancer.



Where she ended up is a mystery. Most of Country Aire’s residents are already gone.

Former Country Aire resident Doug Buman found a place to move his home in Puyallup. Buman signed a confidentiality agreement with Verus, so he can’t talk about what he received in the way of assistance. But he does say that many former residents of Country Aire are in a far worse position than they were before.



“Everybody I know of, except for one, was on their own,” he says. “They had housing they could afford. Now it’s a different situation. That’s the sad part of it.”



Meanwhile, recession has slowed the pace of development in Washington. That means fewer mobile home parks will be gobbled up by developers, who like to build on them because they come at little cost. Well, for the developers anyway. Now might be a good time for legislators to look at creating additional protections for residents of mobile home parks, and expanding assistance programs. I seem to remember Pierce County Council members and Sen. Jim Kastama stepping up and trumpeting their support for the people living in Country Aire Manor during election season. And while it’s a little late to follow through for the Donery’s, Tanya Deutsche and others, what happened to them is likely to begin happening to others as the economy recovers.



Let’s not make the same mistake twice.