GARDEN CITY, Idaho — In our continuing Growing Idaho series on the hot spots for business growth in our area, there's a ton of new cool places to play and live in Garden City. But not everyone can afford to play or live in those cool places anymore. So, what do folks do, who are being pushed out of their neighborhoods by that development? They do have some options.
Garden City Mayor John Evans has seen an explosion of growth. "You get discovered, and that momentum starts," Evans said.
The mayor said it's easy to see why. The town only covers a little more than four square miles, but they have five miles of river frontage. "We've got those three magic things and Garden City, which are location, location, location," he continued.
The location where the growth is really happening is across the river from the Whitewater Park, with new high-end apartments, shops and restaurants. Mayor Evans said, "That corridor is really becoming a place to come and visit."
According to the mayor, the business growth is especially good for the local economy and the city's tax base.
"We have probably 25% or so of our housing stock is lower-valued properties around the city. So, you need this new high-value property, to throw off the taxes to help supplement the cost of service for those that are below the mean."
And the growth is not done. Mayor Evans says there are 2000 more housing units on the way in the next few years and more on the drawing board, "Garden City is going to see a population increase, probably between 20 and 35% in the next four years."
But what about the people who already live there? The hallmark of Garden City used to be diverse housing options, from million-dollar homes to mobile home parks. But in the new-look Garden City, there are fewer and fewer mobile home parks. The land they're on is being sold off to build these high-end developments.
Holly Apsley is the ROC Program Manager with LEAP Housing, a non-profit focused on affordable housing. She agrees that these folks are in a tough spot, "Most people have invested in the mobile home as an asset, not like a traditional renter, but they're renting the space that it's on. Most mobile homes are no longer really mobile, they're going to stay where they're at. So, it makes you really vulnerable to the landlord, being in control of that property and deciding to sell it, redevelop it, or just raise the rents really unsustainably."
We asked the mayor if those people are being forced out, and he said, yes. “Oh, it's happening… I do have a great deal of empathy. Some of the challenges come from my ability to affect that, is limited by the law," Evans said.
That's true. The mayor cannot tell people who to buy from or sell their land to. But he said he can continue to tweak the zoning code to allow the people living here to determine their own future. People in mobile home parks can do that, by forming a resident-owned community, or ROC, and buying the land their homes sit on. With the support of LEAP, Apsley said that's exactly what the folks in the Buddy Dancer Homeowners' Cooperative did a few years ago,.
"Now, they run the park themselves. So, they have a really great volunteer board that oversees the operations. Everybody's rents now go toward operating costs, paying off this mortgage on the land, and then saving for improvements to the park," said Apsley
Again, no one can tell the owner who to sell to, but if this is something that might help your neighborhood, Apsley has some advice. "I think people should start the conversation early with their neighbors and with their landlord. A lot of park owners don't even really know that this is an option that they could consider selling to their residents. And they might assume that their residents wouldn't be interested in something like this."
Both Apsley and Mayor Evans added that there's a bill in the State Legislature that would require notice be given to residents of a manufactured home community, if the owner plans to sell the land. So, they can, perhaps, form a cooperative and buy the land themselves. Right now, the Legislature is looking at rewriting that bill a little. The link to that bill can be found here.
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