State officials will send out inspectors to check for other
violations at mobile home park
Gilroy – State housing officials have ordered the immediate clean-up of sewage at Velladao Mobile Home Park in south Gilroy, and will send a team of inspectors to screen for other building and health code violations. City councilmen who tagged along on a Friday inspection are now looking at ways to protect residents in the event the park loses its permit to operate.
The clean-up order came Friday in response to a Dispatch story highlighting complaints about repeated sewage outbreaks and other problems at the dilapidated trailer park, tucked out of view by the intersection of Monterey Road and Luchessa Avenue.
“Sometime next week somebody will come out to assess the clean-up ordered today, and some time in the next two or three weeks we’re going to send inspectors out there to walk the park and see if there are other hazards that should be corrected,” said Ron Javor, assistant deputy director of code enforcement at the California Department of Housing and Community Development.
Robert Collins, owner of property manager Cal West Asset Management, of San Jose, said that “someone’s going to clean out 700 square feet of sewage” this morning.
“That’s the biggest spill I’ve seen out there,” said Collins, who has not inspected the site since he is on vacation. He said Friday he received a $4,500 price quote from his current clean-up service, but “I’m looking at a second company just to see what our options are.”
The sewage problem was brought to light Tuesday by Livia Alvarado and Martha Ybarra, who live in trailers next to one of the areas covered in waste. Their children have trouble eating and often vomit because of the fumes from sewage outbreaks, which they say have occurred repeatedly over the last four years. They say Collins and owner Thomas Velladao, of Petaluma, have ignored pleas for a permanent fix to the problem.
Velladao did not return a call for comment Friday, but Collins blamed residents for the sewage problem. He claims they remove clean-out caps on the above-ground sewer lines when their toilets back up. He said he plans to install a protective box around the caps, though residents interviewed by the Dispatch denied tampering with the sewer lines.
The 25 trailers in the park are connected to a handful of sewer lines through a network of black pipes. All sewage from the park eventually flows into the city sewer system, according to City Administrative Services Director Mike Dorn.
“We have checked our (sewer) mains and they’re clear,” he said. “We believe they have some sort of problem on site.”
State inspector Kevin Rogers, who arrived shortly before noon to take pictures and issue a clean-up order, suspected the problem stemmed from a multitude of trailers hooked up to a handful of sewer mains. He also noted exposed electrical cables patched with Duct tape, and garden hoses that carry drinking water located near sewer lines.
“There are a lot of people living in a small space and it’s putting a large load on the system,” he said. “The whole park needs a lot of work, but the first concern is sewage.”
It remains unclear how extensive improvements will be, since state law only requires the owner to comply with building and safety codes issued at the time the park opened, according to Javor. City officials say the park has operated for at least three decades and possibly much longer.
Javor said that HCD shuts down five or six parks a year for the most egregious violations, including repeated septic outbreaks where owners refuse to clean up. But he called such a move a last resort.
“We see the park as a source of affordable and, hopefully, safe housing,” Javor said. “Our job is to make sure that it’s safe. Not to shut it down.”
After visiting the park Friday, councilmen Dion Bracco, Craig Gartman and Russ Valiquette doubted the state could avoid revoking the park’s permit.
“I think with the number of violations here, they’re going to get shut down and (the residents) could end up losing their homes,” Valiquette said.
Even if residents can stay, Valiquette preferred to see the city take control of Velladao, which currently falls under the sole jurisdiction of the state. He planned to ask city attorneys to review laws allowing such a move and to provide a briefing at Monday’s council meeting.
On Friday, a half dozen women residents of Velladao gathered in the driveway connecting their trailers. They had mixed feelings about the heightened attention to the park. They feared losing their homes, but were excited at the prospect of extensive clean-up and repairs.
“We’re not asking for the impossible,” said Martha Ybarra, whose trailer lies next to a creeping pool of sewage. She said some neighbors discouraged her in the past from complaining to park management for fear of eviction.
In 2005, the company repaired drinking water lines after Ybarra and other neighbors threatened to withhold their rent. Ybarra said they went without running water for much of the year.
Collins denied that assertion, saying the company paid $25,000 to repair the water lines.
“The residents complained about that for several months, but we had to bid it out,” he said. “Obviously the owner wants to spend what’s reasonable.”
Protect Your Rights
– Department Housing and Community: www.hcd.ca.gov
– Mobile Home Park ombudsman 1-800-952-5275
– Project Sentinel, landlord-tenant mediation, 842-7740 or www.housing.org
*Editor’s Note: The comments of Martha Ybarra, who only speaks Spanish, were translated by Dispatch employee Mary M. Gamboa.
