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Tuesday, 26 December 2006 15:07 |
From Staff Reports
WEAVERVILLE ÇƒÓ A developer whose firm is building a new shopping center featuring a Wall-Mart store in Weaverville announced last Thursday that his company will donate $46,000 to help relocate residents of a mobile home park that will be razed to make way for the development.
Steve Vermillion, a principal owner of Charlotte-based firm Harris, Murr & Vermillion, made the announcement at a meeting at the Weaverville Library. About 30 people attended the session, including roughly 20 residents of the Mountain Terrace Movile Home park.
Vermillionës
company, which recently bought the park, issued eviction notices to the
46 families who rent trailer lots there. The residents were given 180
days to move before construction begins.
The new shopping
center, which is named Northridge Commons, will house a Wal-Mart
Supercenter and a Loweës Home Improvement store, as well as several
smaller retail stores.
The donation
will pay each family $1,000 to help defray the expenses associated
with moving. While several residents said they did not expect to have
all their expenses paid, they did express concerns about the costs of
moving, which can run as high as $2,000 per unit.
Meanwhile,
Vermillion noted that his company will pay about $100,000 per month in
interest on the property while it resolves the relocation issue during
the state-mandated six months from the time of eviction notice.
In addition,
Vermillion said he would look into some extremely high water bills that
several residents have been paying to a third-party provider.
Furthermore,
Town Councilman Don Hallingse, who works for PSNC Energy, said his
company would be willing to donate an additional $1,000 to assist with
the move.
The announcement
was met with appreciation by several residents, as well as Philippe
Rosse, executive director of the Affordable Housing Coalition of
Asheville.
Rosse, who facilitated the meeting, said he was pleasantly suprised by the offer.
Resident Janet
Hyatt noted that the costs of moving include about $320 to $350 for a
plumber to correct the water lines. After doing some research, she
said, she calculated that the cost of moving is about $1,600.
However, Jody
Ochs, a member of Weaverville First, a grass-roots organization that is
working to help the displaced residents of the park, noted that the
total costs involved might exceed even the $2,000-per unit figure.
Once unexpected
costs and new deposits are factored in, she said, the total amount it
may take to relocate the residents is likely to be about $200,000.
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