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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (March 29, 2019)
MARCH 29, 2019, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A7 GUBSER, continued from Page 1 KEIZERTIMES/Matt Rawlings Salem-Keizer superintendent Christy Perry speaks Gubser groundbreaking ceremony. GROWTH, continued from Page 1 Under the current cir- cumstances, Keizer doesn’t even have room for that many dwellings without razing sig- nifi cant portions of the city and starting from scratch. Parker said a conservative estimate of additional land needed is 400 acres, but that would be only for housing and streets. “That would not include space for parks, schools and utilities. The rule of thumb is adding 25 percent for those and would bring the total need to 500 acres, but that usually underestimates the actual need,” Parker said. at the Keizer is taking part in this analysis for two reasons. First and foremost, Keizer was recently designated as rent- burdened by state offi cials. About 54 percent of renters in Keizer are paying more than a third of their monthly income on rent, and 25 percent of homeowners are in the same situation when it comes to their mortgage. The state offered rent-burdened cities extra funds to look at the situations in their towns and look for solutions. A secondary goal is to lay the groundwork for any attempt to expand the city’s Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) that hems in urban sprawl. The question that arose repeatedly during the coming to Gubser, the school will be able to do away with their portable classrooms. “I am excited for having classrooms be more a part of the school rather than having kids in the portables. We will have a little space to grow and not have kids going back and forth through the rain, which will be nice,” said Gubser principal Dave Bertholf. “There are great things in store for our school.” Along with the new classrooms, Gubser will be getting a new cafeteria and kitchen, and will be relocating their covered play area. evening was what would happen if Keizer did nothing. In all likelihood – given the numerous factors limiting Keizer’s growth from sharing its UGB with Salem and the only option for expansion being pristine farm land – there isn’t much the state could force it to do. That may mean the most pressing question for the group is to determine what housing policies are needed moving forward to show a “best effort” in meeting the need. That discussion was on the agenda but never broached during the meeting Monday. “The big question is what type [of housing] and what will we do to address the needs not being taken care of,” said Felicia Squires, a member of the task force. The greatest need in Keizer is for low income, very low income and extremely low income housing (the three categories roughly 47 percent of the overall need). The bond also covers several building improvement projects that include HVAC upgrades, a replacement of partition walls and gymnasium upgrades. Expanded wireless capacity and intercom system upgrades will improve technology and communications at the school. “We couldn’t be more excited for the improvements planned for our schools,” said Superintendent Christy Perry. Corp Inc. Construction, which is based in Salem, will be taking on the project. Based on preliminary work, the company is shooting for OWNERS, continued from Page 1 manufactured home parks. MCHO (Manufactured Housing Communities of Oregon) is a lobbying group that advocates on behalf of park owners. In most instances, residents of manufactured homes own the home itself and pay rent on the space it occupies. “MCHO does a good enough job to make sure there’s no legal loopholes,” the resident said. MCHO only makes its publications available to members of the group, but Keizertimes managed to get a copy of its Guide for Effective Community Management from 2008 and some of its convention materials from later years. Some of the guidelines specifi cally address matters where residents have found previous owners lacking. In a section regarding what park owners responsibilities are, it states at the time of rental “buildings, grounds, and appurtenances are kept in every part safe for normal and reasonably foreseeable uses.” One Wildwood resident discovered years’ worth of mildew and mold on a carport that came with the property and ended up paying for the clean-up out-of-pocket after the then-owner demanded it be put in compliance with park rules. New residents to the park are now being charged a $300 substantial completion by Aug. 16, 2019 and fi nal completion on Aug. 30 — students come back to school on Sept. 4. With construction going on for the remainder of the school year, operations at Gubser will be a little different over the next few months. However, the district believes that they will be able to handle the disruption without much stress. “We are working with contractors to minimize disruption. When construction begins, there will be some noise and the North covered play area won’t be available, but the impact to the instructional day should be minimal,” said Karma Krause, who is a capital projects public engagement specialist with the school district. Bertholf added: “One thing that is very evident about this school is the fl exibility of staff, students and parents. With such a supportive group of team players, the logistics changes and dealing with construction noise and dust will be met with the same “can do” attitude I have come to appreciate.” deposit on the carports that the they will then be required to maintain. The theme of MCHO’s 2015 convention in Eugene was passive-aggressively titled Do I Have to Accommodate This? The Latest on Fair Housing Accommodation Policies. Aside from the minutia of rental agreements, Oregon law works in favor of park owners in other ways. Chapter 90 permits home owners renting in a manufactured home park to make offers to purchase the property through the formation of the homeowners association. Wildwood residents tried that, as well. “Back in 2011, we formed a committee with 68 percent of the residents because we were concerned about safety and the lighting,” said a Wildwood resident. Home owners in the 55+ park were specifi cally concerned with the lack of street lighting. Then-owner, Evelyn Kerber, issued a letter to all residents in January 2012 stating “for years my main focus was to keep rent increases to a minimum because I felt it was the overriding priority of the community … After reading the stated concerns of residents that you compiled, I have immediately began (sic) generating additional revenue in the only way possible through more a (sic) substantial rental increase in 2012 to try to catch up.” Rent increased by $35 in 2012, $35 in 2013, $35 in 2014, and then another $30 between 2015 and 2016. Rent is now $725. Chapter 90 specifi cally prohibits retaliatory rent increases, but the concerns about safety provided cover if retaliation was the intent. After that, the Wildwood Homeowner Association approached Kerber with a proposal to purchase the park from her. “We had a bank ready and lined up to lend each home owner money to buy their own lot” a resident said. Kerber declined and sold the park to the another owner, West Coast Mobile Home Parks , Inc. (WCMHP), which made the street light improvements and installed a pool and clubhouse. Residents approached WCMHP with a offer to purchase and it was rejected again. The second time, WCMP’s owner took advantage of a tax avoidance tool known as a 1031 exchange. A 1031 exchange allows investors to trade certain types of property for other types of investment property without paying taxes on the transaction. Rather than entertain the offer from residents, WCMP’s owner said he was only looking for a 1031 exchange. Without any property to offer in trade, residents’ offer was dead in the water. “When they came up with the 1031, we couldn’t fi ght it because we didn’t have the trade value,” said a Wildwood resident. “The only thing we could do was take them to court and none of us have the money to go up against MCHO.” crossword ATTN: Investment Property Owners Right now is a crucial time to take advantage of a 1031-Exchange to optimize capital gains tax reduction, increase your base, and optimize your cash fl ow. Act before investment tax laws change Krisstine Jacobsen Principal Broker / Owner Call me at 503.504.7330 for a FREE market analysis of your investment property
