The mayor is staying true to his promise to help seniors find new homes.
“You have my word that … I will do all I can to help you find another spot, if that comes to be,” Mayor Jim Slowik told the residents of Evergreen mobile home park in early December.
Following the council’s late-December vote to change the mobile home park property zoning to C3 — a designation that allows for commercial development — the likelihood increased that the seniors will eventually need to move their homes from the property.
If Slowik has his way, they may eventually find a spot nearby the Goldie Street mobile home park.
On Tuesday, Jan 20, the Oak Harbor City Council will decide whether 3.29 city-owned acres on NE Goldie Street is surplus property.
The city purchased the acreage in 1938 with the intention of using it for public works purposes. The parcel, which is located adjacent to the old landfill, has been vacant for many years.
If approved, the surplus motion will free up the property for sale to create funds to develop affordable housing within the city limits, or for use as an affordable housing project location, assuming the city can find enough grant money to support the endeavor.
A second vote by the council on Tuesday will determine whether the city can establish an affordable housing project in concert with the Housing Authority of Snohomish County and its partner, HomeSight, to establish a manufactured home community for seniors in Oak Harbor.
If passed, the motion will allow the city to move forward with grant applications and development for an affordable housing project in Oak Harbor.
Now is an ideal time to move forward with such a project, the proposal states.
“The Washington State Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development has been allocated money specifically for manufactured home projects. While the economic forecast for the state budget is not good, there is a priority on creating jobs with public money,” according to Agenda Bill 11.
The deadline for the spring round of CTED funding is Jan. 26.
