When Paula Martin first heard about a new trailer park opening to tenants in a farm field on a cliff above the shores of Lake Erie, she was intrigued.
The Facebook Marketplace ad touted spaces available in a “year-round trailer park” geared to seniors. At the time, she was living on a friend’s farm. She’d bought a 12-by-24-foot wood shed she was working to convert into a living space. All she needed was a place to locate it.
In her 60s and living on a pension, Martin was struggling to find a place she could afford. The property, on Lakeshore Line just east of Port Burwell, Ont., seemed like just the ticket.
She saw the property in June and had the shed trucked to the site shortly after. By August, she was living there.
Though no lease was signed, she agreed to pay $900 a month in rent, including for electricity, Wi-Fi and water.
“I was told I could stay here as long as I needed,” she said.
Now, her tenancy won’t reach the one-year mark. Martin — along with about a dozen other people who live on the property in a ramshackle mix of trailers, recreational vehicles (RVs) and wooden structures — have been ordered to leave.
On Nov. 28, Bayham municipality told the property owner that everyone has to be off it by Jan. 10.
About a dozen people near Port Burwell are living in recreational vehicles, trailers, and converted sheds on the edge of Lake Erie. Bayham Township has ordered the shut down of the illegal trailer park, with residents facing an eviction date of Jan. 10.
In an interview with CBC, Mayor Ed Ketchabaw said the site has two big problems, even before the state of the dwellings is considered:
- It’s zoned for agricultural use.
- The road that runs to the site along the cliff above the lake has been officially closed to public access for six years due to the threat of lake erosion.
“Of course, top-of-mind is trying to keep people safe, and this just isn’t a safe environment,” said Ketchabaw. “Seasonal travel trailers are not meant for winter accommodation.”
Martin said she was willing to overlook the site’s many problems, because it was affordable.
In August when she moved in, the landlord told her there would be a septic tank installed. She said that didn’t happen for weeks and she began to lose patience.
“Pooping in a bucket until October, I kind of lost it on them and said, ‘Enough is enough,’ like, I’m over 60,” she said. She said the order to vacate has left her in a “very difficult situation.”
She’s looking for a buyer for her shed and another place to live with a three-week move-out date looming.
Low rent was a draw
Craig MacLachlan, 62, was also drawn to the site by the low monthly rent. In June, he came to the property to inquire about an ad for a trailer for sale. He was sold on the idea of not only buying the trailer, but also renting a site on the property.
“I was out of my apartment and trying to find a space that is reasonably priced.”
He paid $900 a month, including water, hydro and internet, plus a monthly instalment to pay off the $2,500 trailer.
“The price is what brought me here,” he said.
MacLachlan installed skirting and insulation around the trailer, and like Martin, he had to use a bucket as a toilet with promises of the septic tank to come.
After a few months, rumours began to circulate that the property was in danger of being shut down.
“I have a feeling that something wasn’t quite right about this and we kept hearing these rumours,” said MacLachlan.
He moved out this month and has found another place to live.
“I got lucky,” he told CBC News.
He’s still trying to help his former neighbours find buyers for their trailers.
MacLachlan said he and other tenants are feeling duped.
“[The property owner] knew at the end of April they were not zoned for this,” he said. “They weren’t permitted for it and they weren’t allowed to do it, but they went right ahead and told everybody it was fine, and they continued to collect rent each and every month.”
The property is owned by Tyler Consoli, who told CBC News he bought it a little over a year ago with the intention of providing a place for low-income seniors to live.
Consoli said he originally intended to apply for new zoning. He also said he planned to get an allowance from an adjacent property to build a new road. However, he said, the cost of making those changes proved to be too much.
“I can’t come up with the money to change the zoning and to build a new road,” he said. “Financially it’s just not feasible to do right now.”
Consoli said he feels bad for the people who have to move. He said he will forgive some of their rent and is willing to help them relocate to another property.
Worried about neighbours
Shelly Ballantyne said those offers to help will come as little comfort to residents who have nowhere to go. Her trailer is roadworthy and she has a vehicle to tow it. She’s confident she’ll find a new place to live, but worries about her neighbours.
“I feel very, very bad for a lot of the people here,” she said. “They’re stuck, like, if they weren’t here, they’d be homeless.”
Municipal staff held a town hall-style meeting with some of the residents on Wednesday. Those in attendance included St. Thomas Elgin Social Services and other agencies that support unhoused people. Residents say those groups have offered them help to relocate.
Ketchabaw said it’s a sad situation that shows the lack of affordable housing for vulnerable people isn’t limited to cities.
“We know homelessness and extreme poverty exists, but in a rural area you don’t expect this,” he said. “It blows you away.”
London Morning8:03Bayham Township ordered illegal trailer park to shut down
About a dozen people near Port Burwell are living in broken-down recreational vehicles, trailers, and converted sheds on the edge of Lake Erie. Bayham Township has ordered them to close an illegal trailer park operating near the town, putting residents in a lurch. Reporter Andrew Lupton spoke with Andrew Brown about the situation.
