A group of Visalia mobile home park residents is afraid to walk their own … – Visalia Times
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Chamberlain said the park’s officials were expected to go back to the city by today to offer additional information to support their request.
Some residents hope that the matter is cleared sooner rather than later.
“The amenities and price make this a very attractive park,” said Manuel Pulido, 56, who moved to the park last April after seeing an advertisement in a Nickel ad. “Times are tough and we’re all trying to find an affordable place to live. I wish everyone could just get along. Most everyone has been welcoming. “
One of those welcoming neighbors is Pam Eskelson, 62, who moved to the park from San Diego in 2008 and lives next to Pulido. She says she welcomes recreational-vehicle owners, but wants more rules, more oversight and a designated space in the back of the park.
Eskelson says she had neighbors living in a travel trailer last year who caused several disturbances, including a drunken brawl inside the park, littering and cutting down her rose bushes. She added that management informed several mobile home owners that if the park allowed recreational vehicles to occupy empty lots, the current residents’ rent would go unchanged.
Eskelson says her rent has been raised the last two years, and despite the hikes, she still believes there might be room for a handful of recreational-vehicle owners.
“They want to fill the spaces. If you’re a big business, you hate to see empty lots,” she said. “But people lie to get in here. They fight and drink and do drugs. They need to go through the same process we do.”
Safety paramount
Residents admit that the checks won’t rid the park of all the bad apples, but their primary concern is safety. Hall, who moved to the park seven years ago, said she wouldn’t have moved in had the park been considering a transition into allowing travel trailers.
She says the money is an issue, but the safety of the park’s older residents isn’t being considered by management, she said.
Brenda Luiz, 62, moved to the park in 2005 and says she’s noticed an influx in theft since the park started attracting recreational-vehicle owners. She, like Eskelson, points to the back of the park where both would feel more comfortable seeing travel trailers housed.
Both fear the travel trailers in the front of the park make the sale of mobile homes less desirable to potential buyers.
Connors, who says she will fight to keep the park a safe place for senior citizens, adds that she and other residents aren’t trying to forbid people from finding a place to live. Rather, they’re trying to find equality and create a safer environment.
“They slide them in quietly, with no checks and regard for the safety of the senior citizens in this park, the school across the street or the homeowners surrounding the park,” Connors said. “If the management and owners won’t protect us, we’ll go to the city and ask them to keep us safe.”