Downey : 4 Trailer Tenants to Move

Less than a month after a developer assured residents of Downey Trailer Park that they would not be evicted to make way for an Acura dealership, renters of four mobile homes have been asked to move.

Howard Biddulph, who owns four of the park’s 16 trailers, told his tenants last week that DCH Investments was paying him to move his trailers from the Firestone Boulevard property. A DCH spokesman said Biddulph was told to negotiate with the renters, not throw them out. “We are not evicting anybody,” the investment company spokesman said.

John Gillies, a trailer park resident for three years, is moving to another park about a mile away this weekend. “Given the choice, I’d rather stay here,” he said. Gillies initially was unhappy about the deal because Biddulph failed to compensate him for the sudden move, but the landlord has since agreed to pay for the inconvenience. Gillies declined to specify the amount.

DCH Investments paid $1.95 million for a 2.6-acre parcel that includes the trailer park, the Regency restaurant and Genes Muffler Shop. The dealership will occupy the restaurant and muffler shop sites, but may later expand to include the adjacent trailer park area. DCH plans to start building the dealership in February.