Owner and residents of mobile home park cited for multiple
violations after sewage spill
Gilroy – State housing inspectors have issued more than two dozen miscellaneous violations to both the owner and residents of Velladao Mobile Home Park, following a major sewage outbreak that exposed sub-standard living conditions at the south Gilroy site.
The number of violations in the report are distributed evenly between owner Thomas G. Velladao, an accountant from Petaluma, and more than half of the 25 homes in the dilapidated park, tucked out of view near the corner of Luchessa Avenue and Monterey Road.
In addition to inspecting the park’s entire sewer system, Velladao will have responsibility for improving the park’s electrical system so that street lights are functioning, exposed electrical outlets are covered and power conductors, which now lie within inches of three trailer roofs, are moved to a safe distance. The five-page report states he also will have to “replace all roadways,” which are now cracked and contain numerous pot holes.
Inspectors also wrote up 17 homes for a range of violations, including animal feces, spliced electrical wires and illegal structures such as a room addition.
Both the park owner and residents were cited for garbage and refuse violations.
The report from the California Department of Housing and Community Development was released last Thursday, two weeks after state and local housing inspectors swarmed Velladao in the wake of a Dispatch report about a 700-square-foot sewage spill.
The Dispatch learned of the story after a group of women complained that their children have suffered bouts of nausea and an inability to eat during a number of sewage spills in the last four years. Property manager Rob Collins, of Gilroy, has blamed some of the outbreaks on residents, claiming they remove “clean-out caps” on the above-ground network of black piping when their toilets back up. Residents interviewed by the Dispatch denied tampering with the lines.
Collins has recently installed a protective cement box over the clean-out cap where one of two outbreaks occurred in March. He also has ordered repairs to a pipe, damaged by tree roots, that caused the second outbreak.
Park owner Velladao took issue with resident complaints that they went without water for much of last year, saying he spent $25,000 to replace water lines throughout the park because of low water pressure. He stressed that water pressure never sank below state minimums and said the project took seven months to complete because of the bidding process and delays caused by the plumbing contractor.
“With regards to the sewage pipes,” Velladao said of the latest round of repairs, “we ran a camera (through the lines) and we have been getting bids to replace the pipes.”
Asked if the cost of repairs might lead him to shut down the park, Velladao said, “No. Absolutely not.”
State housing officials, who did not return a call for comment Monday, have said they try to avoid ordering large-scale repairs that could lead to higher rents or, in the worst case, the closure of a mobile home park. Although the park lies within Gilroy’s borders, the state has jurisdiction over the site as a transportation facility.
Initial reports about the sewage outbreak and substandard living conditions at the park inspired outrage among a number of local officials and residents, and led to a call by Councilman Russ Valiquette to investigate the option of taking oversight responsibility from the state. While state law allows such a move, councilmen have delayed debate on the matter so they could see the state’s response.
“It sounds like they did a thorough inspection,” Valiquette said Monday, adding that he had arranged to walk the property with the park manager to review repairs.
The state inspection report did not indicate a deadline for the park owner’s repairs. A violation notice sent to one of the residents set a May 7 deadline for compliance, though it appears the agency only sent letters in English to the residents, many of whom only speak Spanish.
Martha Ybarra, a resident whose home lies directly next to one of the sewage spills, said she received a violation for unsafe stairs. She plans to install a hand-rail to comply with the violation, though she worried how soon the property owner would handle larger issues at the park.
“We realize we have to do our part,” she said. “If they have to do their part, we have to do ours.”
The comments of Martha Ybarra, who speaks only Spanish, were translated by Dispatch employee Mary M. Gamboa.
