To an unaware newcomer, it likely appears as if a natural disaster has recently hit portions of the Riverside Trailer Park in Brackendale, on the Squamish Nation Seaichem Reserve. The siding is ripped off some of the mobile homes, one trailer is without its roof and there are piles of rubble scattered about. But the reality is the debris is what is left behind after several of the park’s residents moved out, leaving remnants of their trailers behind.
According to the Squamish Nation, so far 16 of the original 19 residents have signed agreements to leave the trailer park on or before the closure date of September 30.
To date, six of the residents have moved out of the trailer park; four received $9,600 from Squamish Nation, which was offered as an incentive for vacating by Dec. 31 and two received $4,800 for moving out by March 31.
Remaining tenants live rent-free until the closure date, according to Squamish Nation Councillor Chris Lewis.
In September of 2016, the Squamish Nation leadership gave the residents until the end of September 2017, to leave the park.
Due to a land dispute involving the Nation and the former landlord of the park, Nation representatives told residents in 2012 that they were effectively trespassing. For the intervening years leading up to the eviction in September, the residents lived in limbo, several told The Chief, unsure of what was to come and unable to sell their trailers to new homeowners because they lacked the written leases required to sell.
The final eviction came, according to the Nation, because there are serious health and safety issues with the aging plumbing and infrastructure the homes depend on.
Tom Green is one of the remaining evicted residents. He has been trying to sell his trailer, which he says is worth about $150,000 for $50,000.
Eventually he will retire in Ontario where he has family and land, but in the meantime will be looking to rent with his son in Squamish.
Green said the vibe among those remaining in the park has become bleak.
“It is kind of depressed,” he said. “Nobody talks to each other… I mean how many times can you talk about, ‘Where are you going. What are you doing?’”
The residents have agreed to remove their personal belongings from the trailer park, including their mobile homes, and have also agreed that anything left behind will become the property of Squamish Nation, according to Lewis.
As residents leave the trailer park, the Squamish Nation is determining how to deal with the property left behind, if any, on case-by-case basis, Lewis added.
Lewis told The Chief there is no current plan for the use of the land once the residents have vacated.
“The trailer park will be closed as scheduled in September for health and safety reasons,” he said.
The Nation will dispose of all property left behind after September.
Green said what he has learned from the experience is that buying a trailer on someone else’s land is a risky proposition.
“I would recommend thoroughly checking that out,” he said. “Owning a home on someone else’s land – you definitely need to investigate that.”
Some of the evicted residents created a Go Fund Me campaign, “Riverside Trailer Park Eviction,” to raise funds to potentially take legal action over their eviction, but as of press deadline, only $1,200 of the $15,000 the residents sought had been raised.
Lewis said he wasn’t aware of any legal action taken against the Nation on the residents’ behalf.
