Mayor Ian Sutherland intends to ask District of Squamish Council to stop the rezoning of any land from trailer park use to another use until a plan is in place to deal with the fallout from displacing homeowners.
He revealed his plans in the Council Corner column (page 15) of this week's edition of The Chief.
"Angelo's may be the case in front of us at the moment, but you can be sure owners of other parks are watching the Angelo's file with interest," Sutherland writes. "So are the owners of mobile homes in these other parks."
Archie Boyce, one of the trailer owners at Angelo's, was surprised by the mayor's position on the rezoning of the valuable piece of property at Mamquam and Government Roads owned by Angelo Milia.
"That just made my day and quite a few other people," Boyce said after learning of Sutherland's intention. "This is actually quite good news."
Coun. Raj Kahlon was also surprised when he learned of Sutherland's move.
"For democracy council should know about these things before they go out," Kahlon said from his store in Lillooet. "In these cases I'm a little concerned by it because staff hasn't written a report."
Coun. Corinne Lonsdale was also caught by surprise when contacted by The Chief.
"I guess I am a little surprised because this could have happened some time ago," she said. "I'm not unhappy."Lonsdale plans to support the mayor's initiative.
"I feel for the Milias and the situation they are in," Lonsdale added. "You can't send people packing with no place to go. That affordable housing needs to be there."
Coun. Ray Peters said he too will support the mayor's stance. Like Lonsdale and Kahlon he did not know of the mayor's plan.
The Chief did not reach the other members of Council despite an effort to speak with all of them.
If a majority of council backs Sutherland's motion it will mean those who own trailers on rented pads will be resting a bit easier. Real estate watchers believe one successful rezoning of a trailer park will likely lead to other park owners redeveloping their property.
Milia is currently in hospital and could not be reached for comment. Consultant Peter Gordon speaks on behalf of the owner of the park. Gordon said he was made aware of the mayor's plan on Wednesday (March 30). As of The Chief's press time, Gordon did not have instructions from Milia.
Boyce believes a 2,000-name petition submitted to the members of Council played a role in swaying sympathy toward local mobile home owners.
"When I had my meeting with him [Sutherland] his hands were tied and he couldn't do anything about it was what he told me," Boyce said of the rezoning application for Milia's property.
Sutherland says in his column he wants council to take a position so the trailer owners and the mobile home property owners can have some certainty.
The mayor also said that a consultant was recently hired to help the District negotiate with the provincial government to develop land in the Cheekye Fan area for residential and forest industrial use. Council will discuss the motion at its meeting Tuesday (April 5) at 6 p.m.
