Residents of the Walnut Lane community in Moab are facing an uncertain future as city officials said the property must be vacated by the end of June. The impending evictions come after years of promises and discussions about the city-managed property, leaving residents scrambling for assistance to try and find affordable housing.
Walnut Lane, a 2.91-acre mobile home park, was purchased by the city of Moab in 2018 as part of a creative plan to build additional low-cost housing without displacing the existing residents. The plan called for building an affordable housing complex on the property, replacing the decades-old decaying trailer homes in stages to allow families to move into better-quality new homes. The new design would also have substantially increased the number of affordable units on the property.
However, the project met with years of challenges, including the high cost of new construction after the COVID-19 pandemic. The city has been seeking a private developer who would manage, complete, and operate the project. In September 2021, the project returned to phase one after the city ended its contract with a construction company; negotiations with another developer fell through late last year.
On April 16, tenants at Walnut Lane received notice that the city “will be terminating your rental agreement.”
“We did not reach this decision easily; however, it has become unavoidable due to changes in the City’s circumstances regarding the property that will occur on July 1,” the notice read.
City officials say that the property’s insurance provider is terminating the property’s policy, creating “unacceptable risks.”
“Our insurance provider was never intending to insure this for any length of time,” said interim City Manager David Everitt in a conversation with the Moab Sun News. “The city had the initial plan to redevelop it pretty quickly, but it hasn’t happened and they’re not going to continue to cover us.”
Everitt said that staff learned of the insurance issue in March and has tried to find alternative insurance options with no success.
“We simply couldn’t wait any longer to let residents know about this issue,” said Everitt. “There is a tiny, tiny chance that we could pull something together, but it doesn’t look good.”
Walnut Lane currently has tenants in 24 occupied units who now must find alternative affordable housing in Moab – the very challenge the project was trying to address.
In response to the impending evictions, efforts are underway to assist affected residents. City officials are working to connect individuals with housing resources and service providers, while also exploring financial assistance options to ease the transition. However, the urgency of the situation and the lack of concrete information regarding the residents’ needs pose significant challenges.
Laura Harris, chair of the Moab Area Housing Task Force, expressed deep concern about the potential displacement of long-standing community members.
“Walnut Lane has been a vital housing opportunity for low-income, vulnerable, and hardworking families that have connections throughout our community,” she said. “Finding stable housing will be incredibly challenging, especially considering the time crunch.”
“These are longtime members of the community and members of the workforce so we’re really concerned about trying to keep everyone here,” Everett said. “If we could have another option to replace our insurance and avoid this outcome, we’d love that, but we’re trying to do what’s best under the circumstances.”
When asked what the city will do with the property if it ends up vacant, Everett can’t say.
“It’s up to the Moab City Council,” he said. “It’s a really new council and it’s a huge question for them to consider.”
