RIVERDALE — The former citizens of Riverdale’s Lesley Mobile Home Park are long gone and forced to leave so the land could be remodeled.
But many of the homes they occupied, some incredibly dilapidated remain, much to the chagrin of some citizens and city officials. The units, most of which are too old to be reused, will have to be razed and demolished. It’s simply unclear when this will happen, though Mayor Braden Mitchell says the arrival of the machinery needed to complete the cleanup job is imminent.
“I just found out (Friday) that they plan to start bringing in heavy appliances in a week or two,” he said Saturday in a message to the Standard-Examiner.
Meanwhile, Mitchell and other city leaders have won complaints from citizens who view the fence as a horror, according to Mike Eggett, Riverdale’s director of network development. “They’re being bombed,” Eggett said.
Representatives for Wright Development Group, the Centerville-based developer that plans to turn the 5. 5-acre site into a 152-unit apartment complex, did not respond to an inquiry seeking comment. However, the municipal government guarantees that action will be taken as soon as possible. as possible.
“We’re close, as far as I understand,” Eggett said. Complications in handling old, deserted scenarios at the site have slowed things down, he said.
Mitchell noted that Wright has the required municipal approvals to move forward with construction. “The site is really horrified and I know a lot of residents, like me, are very interested in seeing it clean,” he said.
The regression projects at Lesley’s, located at 671 W. 4400 South, in the shadow of the Riverdale Road junction over the Weber River, were made public in the spring of 2021. The controversy came as some tenants denounced the loss of the cheap housing option and what they saw as a focus on advancing the lives of low-income citizens of the population.
However, by the end of May, the 55-unit cell home park had been vacated. Then, on Aug. 1, the Riverdale City Council approved the plan for the proposed new five-building apartment complex, called Riverside Flats Apartments, allowing redevelopment efforts to continue.
Along the way, the park deteriorated as citizens left, and some left their homes. According to former citizens, squatters have settled in and scavengers have begun retrieving scrap steel and other fabrics of possible value.
After May 31, when the last tenants left, the developer fenced off the site to prevent foreigners from accessing it, according to Mitchell. “It’s hard to get in now,” Eggett said.
They are ruined decorations, some closed, others with open doors and windows.
A sign on the door of the cell home park north of Lesley’s, Riverside Village, shows the obvious exasperation some feel with the nearby package. The message urges the citizens of Riverside Village to keep their gardens clean. “We don’t need to be like across the street,” he continues.
Similarly, Mitchell said he earned the public’s questions about it and did what he could to keep citizens informed. He expressed his thoughts on the Riverdale City Council assembly on Aug. 1.
He told a representative of the Wright Development Group “the extent of public considerations and court cases he had won and called for immediate progress,” the minutes of the assembly read. The head of Wright Development “indicated that the partners were looking to have an approved plan before spending the money on demolition. “
According to Eggett and Mitchell, three key elements influenced the cleanup schedule.
Utility connections to all sets will have to be cut before demolition can begin. In addition, homes abandoned by their former tenants will have to be declared legally deserted so that Wright Development officials can demolish them. Finally, public suitability considerations, such as the possible presence of asbestos in certain fabrics of some sets requires careful planning. Demolition crews can’t just step in and start razing old sets anyway.
As Mitchell describes, progress is being made, and the sticking point is the disconnection of public services.
“They finished cutting the gauges and fuel lines about two weeks ago. The city’s water pipe got stuck this week and the sewers got stuck (Friday),” he said Saturday. The “last big hurdle” before the cleanup paints begin in earnest, he said, is disconnecting the power source from the giant sign located in the park, which advertises motorists passing by Riverdale Road.
In addition to the land where much of Lesley once stood, the new apartment complex includes land adjacent to the cell home park to the west, adding the former Carey’s Cycle Shop, which will also be demolished.
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