Manteca High has problematic “neighbors.”

Based on complaints made to Manteca Police, they run the gamut from drug use, vandalism, and wire theft, to illegal dumping.

The City of Manteca is taking steps to address those concerns by basically shutting down an “illegal” makeshift mobile home park that abuts Lincoln and Sherman avenues just across the street from the Manteca High campus.

 “It’s a public safety issue,” City Manager Toni Lundgren said Tuesday.

Code enforcement and public health officials are working to remove the trailers and RVs that have everything from improper and illegal electrical hookups to improper and illegal water connections.

Councilman Dave Breitenbucher, whose district Manteca High and the illegal mobile home park are in, has taken a semi-hands on part in the process of helping several of the dozen or so people impacted to find new places to stay.

He’s working with a couple to possibly get their trailer moved to a space at the French Camp Mobile Home Park.

Others — with RVs or tents — have been steered by the city to 555 Industrial Park Drive.

Its where the city funds a year-round emergency services center for homeless that includes the ability to pitch tents and park vehicles that the homeless live in so they can have a secure spot off the streets.

It also comes with services such as food, showers, and bathrooms as well as access to outreach programs that run the gamut for assistance with  medical care, substance abuse, and mental health  to job placement.

The city is in the process of getting four modular buildings in place at 555 Industrial Park by year’s end that will include dorms that can house up to 50 people.

City officials have pointed out while they have made “residents” aware of the 555 Industrial Park option, many aren’t interested.

A neighbor, who declined to be identified, provided a clue as to why.

“There are some of them that like to tweak out,” the neighbor said,

It is the drug use in close proximity to the campus as well as ongoing property crimes such as the theft of wire and such throughout the school modernization project that got school officials’ attention.

The “mobile home park” is not just on the same street as the campus but is less than 300 feet from where the district plans to build a 2-story classroom complex complete with media center.

Breitenbucher noted when the city was made aware of the problem staff starting working to address it.

“Unfortunately, these things take time,” Breitenbucher said of the extended process and various steps required by state law that the city must take.

“The city is moving as fast as (allowed to),” Breitenbucher pointed out.

This isn’t the first major city action taken against the use of the parcel directly behind the Inn by the Station (formerly the Rose Motel) that fronts the 300 block of Moffat Boulevard.

Back in 2013, the city — working with county and state officials — moved to shut down what was then known as the Shady Hollow Mobile Home Park.

It is when the state Department of Housing and Community Development suspended the annual permit to operate the 21-home site, citing various California Health and Safety Codes violations.

The notice in 2013 stated that Sleepy Hollow “is no longer a legitimate mobile home park … It is not legal for the owner/operator of this property to charge or accept rent for lots in the park, or for rental mobile homes or recreational vehicles he/she may own that are in the park.”

 

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com