Trails End takeover: City of Fresno now controls conditions at mobile home park

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A new legal development is bringing hope to the people who live in a neglected northeast Fresno trailer home park.

Action News has followed the problems at Trails End for months, but as of Thursday, the city has more control over conditions.

Piles of trash, four burned homes, and crumbling roads at Trails End caught the attention of Fresno city leaders.

They took over trailer park code enforcement duties from the state in June and even Mayor Jerry Dyer jumped in to clean up.

RELATED: Clean-up efforts begin on Trails End Mobile Home Park

"It was actions," said one resident. "They were wonderful and they not only came in one day, they came in three days."

This resident, who preferred to remain anonymous, and several others saw progress and felt hopeful.

But then the legal process got in the way.

The city applied to put the property into a receivership, meaning a third party would take control from the current owners.

Residents say the current owners waited until right before the case went to court before starting to correct violations.

A security guard started patrols, burned down homes got cleared out and trash got cleaned up, but city leaders say it's nowhere near enough.

"The mobile home park is in such deteriorated condition that it's going to require a lot more substantial improvements to get it from substandard housing to what we expect for any living conditions in Fresno," said Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias.

In court documents, the owners blamed residents for illegal electricity hookups.

RELATED: Progress at Fresno mobile homes, rental properties watched by code enforcement

Residents tell Action News the owners' representative did the hookup.

The owners also blamed residents for the dirty water ruining the road through the trailer park.

Residents tell us there isn't proper drainage.

"People using the water in their own homes or on the driveway, patio, that comes out and it stays here," said Cheryl Dedmon. "And it brings mosquitoes. It can bring diseases."

A judge sided with the city Wednesday, putting Trails End into a receivership, and allowing the city to make any necessary improvements.

Arias says this is the biggest property and the first mobile home park to be put into receivership in Fresno.

He says it's proof this kind of problem can exist anywhere in the city and code enforcement will make sure to hold owners accountable everywhere.

Resident can call code enforcement at (559)621-8400 to report any problems.

At Trails End, the feeling that faded away after the city's initial response has started to bubble up again.

RELATED: Fresno woman involved in mobile home fire calling for change

"It gives me hope even though I don't know what the results are going to be," said the anonymous resident. "But anything's got to be better."

When the trailer park place is up to code, the courts will have another decision to make: Who should own the property and maintain the proper living conditions?

That decision could be months or years away.