CLEVELAND — Residents at the Euclid Beach Mobile Home Community are asking what’s next as the land they live on is slated to be part of a neighborhood plan being considered by Cleveland City Council.
The roughly 100 residents are facing displacement that would give them a year to year and a half to relocate.
“The plan is looking at the entire Lakeshore Boulevard area and beyond as it pertains to redevelopment opportunities, green space, businesses, expansion of public facilities, library, etc.,” said Ward 8 Councilman Mike Polensek.
In December 2021, the Western Reserve Land Conservancy purchased the 28-acre mobile home community. Polensek described the infrastructure of the property as “shot,” and said the cost to relocate some residents to a different section of the property, rather than entirely displacing them, wasn’t financially feasible.
“[Western Reserve Land Conservancy] came in in a rescue effort thinking that somehow that they could reconfigure the park, relocate it, but again, at the end of the day, who’s going to pay for that? Who’s going to pay the millions and millions of dollars to do the infrastructure? It would have to be passed on to the tenants that live in the park, and that just is not going to happen, they can’t afford that,” he said. “So we’ve got to figure out, working with outside agencies, what we can do to help the folks that are living there who wish to stay in the neighborhood.”
Polensek said the previous owner had mentioned an interest in selling the land without regard to what would be done to it, and that the residents would have been put out. Polensek also mentioned the importance of protecting the nearby Metroparks and library.
“We had to protect the 28 acres, I’ve got to say that again. We could not take the chance of someone coming in there and buying that and immediately starting an eviction process,” said Polensek.
Former Cleveland City Councilman Matt Zone now works for Western Reserve Land Conservancy. He told 3News that evicting people from their homes is not easy.
"We are going to try and put them in suitable housing. If you have some sort of physical disability, we want to get you in better housing," Zone said. "They (the community residents) deserve to be in quality housing and we are committed to doing that."
Zone adds that 25% of the homes are vacant and the conservancy has been digging out of a financial hole ever since they bought the property.
3News talked with several residents who are looking for answers as to what happens next, and where they will go. Resident Lawrence Williams lives in a trailer with a view of the water. He said he never saw this coming.
“I was going to retire right here. This is my retirement home right here, that was the plan,” he said. “People really don’t want to move, I’ll tell you that now.”
Lenny Trefny had also bought his trailer with the intention of retiring in it. Because of the age of his trailer, and the addition he’s built onto it, he said he cannot physically move and relocate his.
“I just didn’t ever expect I’d have to leave, and now I do,” he said.
William Hart has lived in this area for 15 years. He and many of the residents own their homes, but pay for the rental of the lot which averages $400-$500 a month.
"I call it smart living because it doesn't cost me a lot, so I can afford a lot of other things in life," Hart explained.
According to the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, which is working with the residents, the impact of this plan will be drastic for residents.
“A lot of the residents are elderly, a lot of the residents are disabled. And one thing that’s great about a mobile home is that it’s all on one floor, it’s accessible, it’s kind of self contained,” said Josiah Quarles, director of organizing and advocacy with the coalition. “It’s very difficult to find that kind of housing out in the market. And the other part is that it’s really affordable.”
You can read the NEOCH's release about the plan below:
Quarles said that there isn’t a market for the residents to sell their homes, due to the plan, and that while some residents have already left the community, others want to remain, despite any maintenance issues. Quarles said he believes parks and people can co-exist.
“We’re in an affordable housing crisis right now, and we would be sending over 100 more people into that bottleneck while also simultaneously wiping out over 100 affordable housing units,” Quarles said.
You can read the details of the Euclid Beach Neighborhood Plan below: