Residents of Belmor Mobile Home Park spoke out against rent increases July 16 at the Federal Way City Council meeting.
Former Belmor homeowners association president Mike Nugent shared during his public comment that the monthly rent is increasing by $150 per month in October. Nugent pointed out that for many who are living on Social Security, a rent increase like that can have a huge impact.
“What’s going to happen to the people that they price out and have move out of there? They’re going to become homeless,” public commentor James Brux said. “They’re going to be out on the street because if they can’t afford to live there they sure can’t afford it down the street. So it’s going to cost the city money to take care of them.”
Judy Kimes shared the story of “how we got here,” saying her friend got a letter notifying her of the rent increase: “She called me and cried. She was beside herself. And it just touched my heart. I’m here because of all of us, but especially because of the ones that aren’t going to be able to afford it.”
Other issues at the mobile home park were noted, including concern about homeless individuals causing issues within the park, located at 2101 South 324th St.
While residents weren’t specific about what type of support they need from the city, one commentor suggested a rent cap, like those proposed by President Biden the same day. According to a news release from the White House, “President Biden is calling on Congress to pass legislation presenting corporate landlords with a basic choice: either cap rent increases on existing units to no more than 5% or lose valuable federal tax breaks.”
Belmor residents also banded together in 2013 to negotiate a contract with the owners of the mobile home park. At that time the focus was on securing protection if the owners ever decided to sell the property.
Initially, they advocated for increased protection through a change in zoning from the city, but settled on an agreement with the property owner.
One challenge of mobile home parks is that residents often own their homes, but rent the lot. After decades of living in these properties, however, the mobile home “isn’t mobile anymore,” as Nugent described. This means it can be costly to move the home to another location, or in general recover equity from it.
Sound Transit recently selected a site for the Operations and Maintenance Facility South that will also displace approximately 71 to 77 mobile homes within Belmor, according to their environmental impact study. One public commentor said that to their knowledge, no one at Belmor has received any update from Sound Transit about how much money they will be receiving in compensation and relocation assistance. That has not been verified by the Mirror.
In the final environmental impact study, Sound Transit stated that in their evaluation: “There is a sufficient supply of comparable homes available to accommodate the residents displaced by the project,” but later notes that “relocation of mobile home residents could be challenging because there is little availability in mobile home communities within Pierce and King counties.”
Sound Transit documents state they will “work with those affected to try to keep them in the same general area,” and identified the following possibilities for Belmor Park residents who will be impacted: “Relocate within Belmor,” “Relocate to another 55-plus park, renting or purchasing a mobile home within that park, or potentially moving their current mobile home,” or “Relocate to a family park, renting or purchasing a mobile home within that park, or moving their existing mobile home.”
In response to the public commentor’s concerns, Mayor Jim Ferrell said that “we will be in touch about those issues with regard to the homeless issue with regard to the Hines Corporation, and at a minimum we will share your concerns and relay your thoughts.”
More updates
The city council voted to participate in a settlement agreement related to the opioid crisis. This settlement has been negotiated with Kroger Co. and its subsidiaries by the Washington State Attorney General. Staff calculate that Federal Way’s portion will be approximately $72,709. It will be paid out over a period of several years.
A construction company has been selected to construct the city’s new Operations and Maintenance Facility, not to be confused with Sound Transit’s OMF South.
