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