City will wait for report from state inspection before making
decisions regarding trailer park
Gilroy – City leaders say they will await a state inspection report before they consider taking regulatory control of Velladao Mobile Home Park, which has come under intense scrutiny in recent weeks following a major sewage outbreak.
The park, which lies in the city limits but falls under state jurisdiction as a transportation facility, attracted a half dozen inspectors last Thursday from the city and the California Department of Housing and Community Development. The inspectors checked to ensure that clean-up had begun on a 700-square-foot sewage spill, and for additional health and safety violations among the 25 trailers and mobile homes in south Gilroy, tucked out of view near the corner of Luchessa Avenue and Monterey Road.
State housing inspectors have sent their findings to Sacramento for review and expect reports to be mailed in coming days to residents and park owner Thomas Velladao, of Petaluma.
“I’m curious to see what the state report says and what (property manager) Rob Collins does out there,” said Gilroy Councilman Russ Valiquette. Two weeks ago, Valiquette asked city attorneys to investigate the possibility of taking control of the park in the event that state officials do not hold the park to high enough safety standards. Council members learned last week that state law allows such a move, though at the same meeting City Administrator Jay Baksa urged councilmen not to “overreact” to problems at Velladao.
State housing officials have said the park does not have to comply with stringent modern healthy and safety codes, but mainly those in force when it opened in the 1950s. They have stressed the need to avoid large-scale repairs to prevent rent increases or, in the worst case for tenants, the closure of the park.
“If it means us taking over control of the park to make it work, because the state either can’t or won’t (order adequate repairs) – I think that’s something we have to seriously look at,” Valiquette said.
Mayor Al Pinheiro said it is premature to discuss taking regulatory control from the state.
“If it got to where staff feels it’s something we should be taking control of, then obviously I would support such a move,” he said. “As mayor, my responsibility is to make sure that (the problems) are checked into. We’re not going to allow landlords to take advantage of our citizens and make them live under conditions that are not safe.”
A pair of neighbors complained two weeks ago about sewage outbreaks at the park. The women, Livia Alvarado and Martha Ybarra, said their children have suffered bouts of nausea during repeated sewage spills over the last four years.
Property manager Robert Collins, of Gilroy, has blamed residents for the outbreaks by the women’s trailers on the north side of the park. He claims residents remove a clean-out cap on the above-ground sewer pipe when their toilets back up – a problem he has addressed by installing a protective cement box around the cap.
More extensive repairs are required to fix a sewer line on the south side of the park, according to Collins. He said a plumber who scoped the pipe found root damage from nearby Eucalyptus trees. He has received an initial estimate of $15,000 for the repairs to the line, which carries waste from 12 trailers to the city’s sewer mains on Monterey Road.
“We’re replacing sections of pipe in there all the time,” Collins said. “I’m thinking of just pulling all of that line out and cutting back the roots substantially so we don’t have to deal with that for 10 or 15 years.”
Such changes would require the state to sign off on the type of sewer lines and installation methods, according to state housing inspector Frank Gomez.
“In our report, we were going to order the park to provide a report from a plumber as to the scoping of the lines so we can determine what areas need to be replaced,” he said. “I don’t know if the whole system needs to be repaired and we don’t want to order that unless we have to.”
Collins estimated that replacing all of the park’s sewer lines could cost up to $40,000. In addition to sewer repairs, Collins has arranged for the clean-up and mowing of an overgrown field on the north side of the park. He said the owner may install a basketball court or some other amenity on the site if residents show they can “keep it nice.”
As for long-term fixes to the park’s sewage problems, Collins said “we’re working on it, but it’s going to be a maintenance thing, not a one time solution.”
