Jessica Cejnar Andrews / Wednesday, May 18, 2022 @ 3:02 p.m. / Community, Local Government
Alex Lemus Proposes 'Lateral Relocation' of Redwood Harbor RV Park Tenants so Upgrade of Electrical System Can Start
Alex Lemus plans to open a third RV park in what was once Redwood Harbor Village's overflow lot. | Photo: Jessica C. Andrews
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The developer spearheading revitalization projects at two Crescent City Harbor RV parks says he will ask residents at Redwood Harbor Village RV Park to move laterally within the park so he can begin work.
Alex Lemus, of Renewable Energy Capital LLC, proposed giving residents living in spaces 1-31 at Redwood Harbor Village the option to move to another space. If their units don’t move, Lemus said his company would be willing to get them into something that can move.
“We’re thinking about working on the electrical around the outer edge of Redwood Harbor Village,” he told Crescent City Harbor Commissioners on Tuesday. “When I was there in February, to me it doesn’t seem safe, so we wanted to start with that.”
About six weeks after Harbor Commissioners approved ground lease agreements with Lemus for Bayside and Redwood Harbor Village RV parks, the developer told commissioners that relocation plans for the parks’ long-term tenants were moving forward.
REC has been looking at several different real estate options, including a portfolio of properties that are available for sale, but Lemus said, those units wouldn’t be ready for anyone to move into “any time soon.”
“We’d have to put a lot of work into them,” Lemus told commissioners. “We looked at a multi-family housing option that would take 12-18 months minimum, maybe 24 months. We looked at a lot of options — long-term solutions. Now what we’re going to do is come up and do some site visits and make offers on those, but obviously that’s going to take a little bit of time.”
Lemus said he would be in Crescent City next week to look at those options. The proposed “lateral moves” of tenants within the parks are so REC can get started at Redwood Harbor Village, he said.
Lemus has promised that he wouldn’t raise rents or evict RV park tenants who are in good standing once his lease with the Harbor District goes into effect.
In an April 25 interview with the Wild Rivers Outpost, Lemus said he was hoping to work with the Crescent City Housing Authority to invest in housing infrastructure, potentially helping a developer fund a multi-family housing unit, though that endeavor can take up to two years.
Meanwhile, Lemus said he has a survey map done of what had once been Redwood Harbor Village’s overflow lot, which he hopes to turn into a third RV park with 24 spaces facing South Beach.
On Tuesday, Lemus told commissioners that he had gotten a quote on the parks’ fencing and has contracted with Hemmingsen Construction to demolish several older buildings, including the existing bathrooms there. Lemus said he also plans to install a security system with cameras on it.
“We’re also having a company come out and give us a report on the sewer system and what has to be done so we can utilize that,” Lemus told commissioners. “We’re paying people to go out and do work so we know what needs to be done so we can offer services necessary to out-of-town guests and other people who use it.”
Lemus said he expects to share more details about pricing at the new RV park at the Crescent City Harbor District’s first meeting in June.
“We’re going to put special pricing in place for Del Norte residents,” he said. “We do want to give priority to Del Norte residents, but we’re going to launch our website I’m guessing within the next couple of weeks.”
In other matters related to the RV parks, Crescent City Harbormaster Tim Petrick said the Harbor District has 16 evictions in process against tenants who have violated the parks’ rules. On Sunday, harbor district staff handed out 11 more eviction notices, primarily for non-payment of rent.
“A lot of that was not going to be collectible before April 1 because it was covered under the COVID rules,” Petrick told commissioners. “We had given out 11 notices for nonpayment on Sunday that were for the last two months, and I know some of those people came in and paid. I think we need to figure out how we’re going to account for non-payers.”
Lemus answered a request for proposals from the Crescent City Harbor in 2020 to redevelop the port’s on-land properties. He plans to upgrade the electrical systems at both RV parks as well as the laundry, restrooms and shower facilities and the landscaping.
Lemus also proposes purchasing Airstream travel trailers and cabins in an effort to boost overnight visitors. He says he’s also open to offering yurts and tiny homes for guests visiting the harbor.
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