Jimy Paterson woke up Thursday morning to news he never expected to hear.
The 69-year-old resident of Woodland Park, a mobile-home community in downtown Langford, was told he was going to have to move.
The property owners had made a deal to sell the six-acre parcel, containing about 40 manufactured homes, to the City of Langford, to be turned into a city park.
Residents will have five years to move out. The city said it will purchase each manufactured home for the assessed value plus 10% for tenants who aren’t able to or don’t want to relocate their trailers.
Under that formula, Paterson said his manufactured home would be worth just under $300,000, which he said “is not enough.”
“To be honest, I thought I’d die here,” said Paterson, who has lived in Woodland Park for four years. “I’m shocked. I’ve got one kidney, one foot and I’m legally blind … I got a lot of medical problems.”
Paterson said he planned to start visiting seniors’ residences on and “maybe fill out some application forms,” adding: “I gotta stay in Victoria where my doctors are.”
Woodlands Park owner Ralph Stoerzer, who grew up on the property, said in an interview that his German-immigrant parents, Wolfgang and Hildegard, purchased several properties in the 1960s and 1970s for the mobile home park.
They built gardens and pathways and planted more than 80 species of trees, as well as preserving towering second-growth Douglas firs and cedars.
But with new tall buildings surrounding the mobile home park on all sides, Stoerzer, 69, said it was time for an exit.
He said preserving his parents’ legacy and turning the property into a city park in Langford’s core — and not another high-rise development — was the outcome he preferred and one his parents would have wanted.
“Today is the best-case scenario. It will be a great park, something the city really needs,” said Stoerzer.
The city said it’s buying the well-treed parcel — located just behind Langford’ s city hall — for $9.8 million, significantly less than its appraised value of $18.125 million.
Thursday’s announcement came out of the blue to the public, but the deal had been negotiated for two years.
It was unanimously approved by Langford council at an in-camera meeting in December.
Council has scheduled three readings of a park dedication bylaw for Woodlands Park at its Monday meeting and is expected to adopt the bylaw at its Jan. 20 meeting.
The city is using the $7-million grant it received from the province through the Growing Communities Fund in March 2023 to pay for most of the purchase price.
The landowners are being paid in two equal instalments, according to the city; the first was paid on Jan. 8, and the second will be paid on June 8, 2026.
Langford said it will budget up to $1 million a year to purchase homes as tenants are ready to move, and has hired a dedicated tenant liaison, James Ridge, to assist in the process.
Ridge, a Langford resident, said in a package delivered to residents that he will assist in providing resources to move units and sell them, and in connecting tenants with new housing options.
In addition to the $1 million for tenant supports between 2025 and 2029, the remainder of the purchase price, along with the future transformation of the urban park in 2030, will require a tax increase of about 1.75% in 2029, according to a city statement.
Hockley Avenue will be turned into a roundabout at the Woodland Park entrance, and an active transportation corridor will continue through the new park.
The city said restoration of the land will begin in 2030 and will build on the park’s trail system and gardens, landscaped ponds and fountains.
Picnic areas and playgrounds are planned as part of the design, which will be modelled on Beacon Hill Park and VanDusen Botanical Gardens in Vancouver, the city said.
Coun. Colby Harder called it a rare opportunity to create an urban oasis for the city’s growing population. The rookie councillor played a major role in bringing the deal together.
“When I was campaigning for the election, I decided to go door knocking here,” Harder said Thursday. “A few months later, Ralph got ahold of me and invited me back to the property to discuss his plans for the land, which was a park.”
Stoerzer had already built a scale model of a park he envisioned for the site, but said he “lost confidence” in the previous council. He asked Harder if she could help him work with the city.
Harder said she worked with council and senior staff to see how they could forge a deal that would “capture the vision for Ralph’s legacy, but also respected the needs of the tenants as well.”
Harder said the tenant compensation package, which exceeds provincial guidelines in the province’s, was a priority for council and herself because she grew up in a mobile-home park in Langford.
She said Langford needs a new park. “You can come here and experience nature, get some fresh air, meet neighbours and take that break.”
The city said the land deal addresses the need for additional parks, trails and open space in Langford’s downtown, which has been noted in public input sessions during the city’s Urban Forest Management Plan and ongoing refresh of its Official Community Plan.
The city will issue a donation receipt to the owners for $8.325 million — the difference between the appraised value and the purchase price.
“Ralph and Laura’s vision and significant contribution to the community will create an accessible urban oasis that benefits both current and future generations,” said Langford Mayor Scott Goodmanson said in a statement.
“I look forward to Woodlands Park providing year-round opportunities for friends and family to come together with nature in Langford’s downtown core.”
