The Los Angeles Rams organization aren’t the only people moving at the behest of owner Stan Kroenke this year. According to The Dallas Morning News Kroenke is evicting longtime residents currently residing on the historic Waggoner Ranch near Wichita Falls.
The property, which was listed for $725 million, was purchased by Kroenke in February. Last week hundreds of residents, many of whom have been leasing land for over 50 years, received eviction letters advising that their current leases will not be renewed and they have until Jan. 31, 2017 to leave their homes.
“W.T. Waggoner Estate, Inc., … has decided to change the use of the land in Cara Blanca Park on February 1, 2017 and return the lake shoreline to its natural, uninhabited landscape to support and improve the microecosystem in and around Lake Diversion.”
While the preservation efforts to the lands natural resources are admirable, the majority of residents currently residing in the area are either elderly or on fixed incomes. Occupants were given the option to move their existing residences at their own expense while those who are unable to move will see their structures will be disposed of.
Times New Record spoke long time Waggoner Ranch residents who have no idea what will come next for the.
“We do have pictures — thank God for that,” Butler said. ” … I’m so devastated and still in shock. It’ll probably set in next week. Right now, I just don’t know. I mean, I’m losing my home.”
He and a couple hundred other residents are left to sort through what to do next — residents like Paul Appel, a Vietnam War veteran with several medical issues and a fixed income.
“I’m in poor health and will be 73 in three months,” said Appel, who retired to the lake 16 years ago. “I can’t do very much and will have to get some help somewhere to move everything.”
While he has two adult children who live in Dallas, Appel is struggling to figure out what to do with a “lifetime worth of stuff” packed inside three storage sheds and a sun room.
His home — two mobile homes in an L-shape — could be relocated to new land, but he doesn’t have the money for the transportation or the new property.
“I have no idea where I’m going to go,” Appel said. “I have no money and I’m on Social Security and disability. I live month-to-month and can’t afford rent anywhere.”
A GoFundMe campaign has been created to help the evicted families.