Developer threatens to make disabled senior pay for forced demolition of own home – West Kelowna News

A developer is threatening a disabled West Kelowna senior with a lawsuit after he took steps, with help of the local MLA’s office, to ensure he could get fair compensation for his mobile home.

George Sun, 64, has lived in the Shady Acres Mobile Home Park at 2355 Marshall Rd. since 2012 when he purchased a decrepit double-wide mobile home for $1,000 cash.

As Castanet first reported in January, Sun worked for months to bring the home to a livable condition. As a refugee who escaped the Killing Fields of Cambodia, Sun raised his sons as a single father in the mobile home while working to improve it after his shifts.

The mobile home park has since been purchased by Kerr Properties, a Langley-based company seeking to re-develop the property into an industrial park.

Sun’s unit was previously unregistered with the City of West Kelowna, meaning his address did not exist on the city’s tax roll, a situation he had been trying to resolve for years but was stymied by bureaucracy.

Seeking compensation for home

With the help of MLA Ben Stewart’s office after Castanet published its story, Sun had his home registered and assessed at $90,000 by BC Assessment in February.

Prior to his home being registered, Sun was being treated as a renter in the Kerr Properties relocation plan for residents, meaning he was not entitled to anything for the structure.

For nine other owners in the park, Kerr offered to buy their homes at 110 per cent of BC Assessment’s 2023 value while giving them 12 months notice to vacate.

The minimum under B.C. law requires a mobile home that cannot be moved be purchased by developers for its assessed value, if the owner files the correct application.

In Sun’s case, Kerr Properties is now refusing to buy the home and says they will make Sun pay for its demolition costs.

In a letter sent to Sun dated May 1, Kerr Properties agent Travis Tournier said the registration of the home was “unauthorized” and pointed to the “multiple unpermitted renovations” Sun conducted over the years to make the mobile home livable.

“Kerr Properties is hereby giving you formal notice to bring your structure up to current BC Building Code Standards and to provide us with an unconditional final occupancy certificate from the City of West Kelowna within 90 days,” the letter reads.

Tournier provided Sun with a deadline of July 31, at which time he says the company will seek the removal of the structure and “reimbursement of any costs associated with this matter.”

“It is advisable that you obtain legal or other professional advice on this matter as non-compliance may result in legal action against you,” the letter concludes.

The letter says Sun will have to acquire a long list of building permits and inspections before being granted that occupancy certificate from the city and recommends Sun work with his “engineering team” to determine all requirements.

Unaware he needed permission to register

Sun now receives disability benefits due to a PTSD diagnosis related to his escape from the Cambodian genocide that killed his family and upwards of three million people. He does not have the financial means to get all the inspections done in time or afford a lawyer to offer him advice.

“I am really down nowadays, especially my mind,” he said.

“My physical health is going down a lot, I cannot sleep or even think, it’s scary, I’m scared, frightened.”

Sun said he had no idea he needed consent from Kerr Properties to register his home and only wants fair compensation for the estimated $30,000 in materials and labour he has spent on his home getting it to its current state.

He has been paying pad fees but is having trouble getting Kerr Properties to give him his latest receipts, which he says he needs to apply for housing assistance.

His attempts to get into subsidized housing have also been challenged by a lack of a formal eviction notice from Kerr Properties. That lack of a notice to end tenancy also means he cannot file a dispute application for compensation for his home like a typical owner would be able to under the law.

“I heard from the [BC] housing, they said I’m not homeless yet. I don’t have the eviction note, they cannot help for now,” Sun said, explaining the MLA’s office could only help him register his home.

“I’m very much alone.”

Council paused redevelopment

In January, West Kelowna city council unanimously paused the redevelopment of Shady Acres mobile home park to give the developer more time to work with residents to help find them new accommodation.

At the time, Kerr Properties’ relocation manager had only spoken with about 20% of residents and Interior Health had written to city council with concerns about the mostly disabled residents of the park.

“We do not have any objections to the proposed rezoning, however, we are concerned about the loss of approximately 40 units of housing that are more affordable for families and individuals with lower socioeconomic position in the community,” Interior Health said.

A Castanet request for comment sent to mayor and council was redirected to city staff, who did not meet the deadline for publication.

City council, however, referred to the redevelopment of Shady Acres when they voted Tuesday to have city staff prioritize the creation of a city-wide set of policies for rental protection and tenant relocation.

Coun. Carol Zanon said the public hearing held for the park’s redevelopment was “heartbreaking.”

“It’s just not part of a job that I can accept, that I can live with, to see very vulnerable, upset people losing their home,” she said. “We’ve got to do the best that we can to make sure that all legal methods of protection are available for these folks.”

Council heard that redevelopment is expected for large swaths of the city’s older, more-affordable rentals.

Coun. Rick de Jong called the city’s policies on the issue “woefully inadequate and antiquated.”

“We’re hearing from staff, and you really don’t even need to hear from staff, you just have to look at what’s happening here in West Kelowna and across the bridge — we’re going to be facing more of these,” he said.

Kerr Properties also did not respond to a request for comment. It’s not clear when the Shady Acres re-development proposal will be back before council.

Photo: Contributed

(Left) the mobile home when George Sun purchased it for $1,000 (right) and its living room today.