King County mobile home park buyout will relocate residents from harm’s way

Relocation assistance and counseling among services offered to residents

Residents of Cedar Grove Mobile Home Park along the swift-flowing, flood prone Cedar River in Maple Valley will be safely relocated from harm's way under a King County plan that includes financial assistance and counseling benefits for park residents.

For public health and safety reasons, King County is acquiring the 20.42-acre property, and will work with Cedar Grove residents to move them to higher ground. There are 41 occupied mobile homes on the property, which is located in a dangerous floodplain.

"Local government has no higher mission than protecting its residents, and the best way to protect Cedar Grove residents is by relocating them to safer areas of our community," said King County Executive Ron Sims.

The mobile home park was severely flooded three times by the Cedar River in the 1990s. Risky emergency evacuations through fast-moving flows were required to save the residents each time. As river water infiltrated the mobile home park's septic and drinking water systems, unhealthy conditions persisted well after the floodwaters receded.

In addition to securing safer housing, benefits to the residents include moving expenses, financial counseling and a rent supplement or a down payment on a home – none of which would have been available to residents had the park owner sold to a private developer. Payout amounts are determined case-by-case and are based on a variety of factors, including income and number of family members.

"We understand the difficulties relocation creates for our residents and are committed to providing financial and technical assistance, as well as adequate time, to help them find and move into safer housing," Sims said.

The relocation project provides flood protection benefits to the broader community as well. Also currently at risk is State Route 169. A levee upstream of the Cedar Grove Mobile Home Park property directs water at the critical highway. Setting back the levee at Cedar Grove will help to reduce flood pressure on the levee that protects the highway, help move floodwater downstream and restore natural floodplain functions.

The property buyout and relocation is expected to cost $6.77 million. Funding for the property purchase includes grants from the state Salmon Recovery Funding Board, King County Conservation Futures Tax and the King Conservation District. Additional funding is also being provided by the King County Flood Control Zone District.

Cedar Grove is not the first property along this particularly volatile stretch of the Cedar River floodplain to be purchased by King County. To date, the county has purchased 13 adjacent parcels totaling 17.11 acres with 10 homes.

Acquiring the property is identified as a high priority in the 2006 King County Flood Hazard Management Plan, as approved by the County Council.

The proposed acquisition was recommended as an early action project by the King County Flood Control Zone District Advisory Committee. The 15-member group of elected and community leaders from across King County is tasked with recommending an annual budget and work plan for strengthening the county's flood protection system, and reducing flooding risks to repetitively damaged property.

King County has hired a consultant experienced in mobile home park relocations to help with the Cedar Grove project. Relocating Cedar Grove tenants could begin as soon as April and last for a year or longer – depending on the availability of housing elsewhere in King County.

Sims noted that while there is already potential for levee failure along the Cedar River because of high flows, scientists believe that rivers across King County could see an increase in the frequency and severity of flooding as a result of climate change.

Since 1990, King County has been declared a federal disaster area eight times because of severe and widespread flooding. Cedar Grove relocation information is available at
http://www.kingcounty.gov/environment/wlr/river-floodplain-unit/cedar-grove-acquisition.aspx.