These 'elderly' had plenty of time to plan 

I am writing in response to your article in the May 24 edition regarding the Port San Luis Trailer Park, “Elderly residents face eviction in Port San Luis.” What a great headline! But hey, that is old news; the tenants were noticed about the closure back in 1984, and again over the years. The leases were converted to month-to-month agreements, and certified mail was sent to each tenant to give them notice of the Harbor District’s plans of the park closure.

The trailer park tenants have met with Harbor District staff and commissioners many times over the past 28 years and have been told the same thing over and over again: “We will close the trailer park and open it up for the general public to use.” This was/is actually the directive we got from the state when we promoted the legislation to allow the tenants to continue to live there on site and pay the $110 per month (now $135/month—SLO County rent control!). The district lobbied the state to allow these poor tenants to continue to live there for a while until we could convert the property over for its intended use: public recreational access.

A prudent trailer park resident would have seen the writing on the wall (back in 1984) and found another place to live and pay the extraordinary amount of $135 (2012 dollars) per month for an ocean view—if they could find one anywhere in the United States. The elderly (in 1984) have all passed on; may they rest in peace. The smart ones planned their futures and moved on. Yes, this is a sad time for us all, but the Harbor District is not authorized to continue to operate a private housing facility indefinitely. That is what the law’s intent was, as Rep. Eric Seastrand stated to us, and is what the Harbor Commission must do. This park closure is being done for all the citizens of the state and those county persons who pay a property tax to the Harbor District. Should the district continue to subsidize 10 tenants of an old trailer park with a great location, cheap rent, and ocean views? I think not.