OXNARD : Panel to Seek Sites for Trailer Park

The Oxnard City Council on Tuesday created a panel to search for places to relocate residents of a run-down and dangerous trailer camp on the city’s south side.

The city wants to build a mobile home park for 1,100 farm workers and their families who live in the Oxnard Mobilehome Lodge, a 140-unit trailer camp crammed onto five acres near Commercial Avenue.

The council in August tentatively agreed to move residents to a new park on 21 unincorporated acres near Olds Road but rescinded the decision weeks later after receiving complaints from nearby homeowners.

On Tuesday, the council established a 13-member committee that will consist of city planners, school district officials, Oxnard Chamber of Commerce, United Way and mobile home park residents.

The panel will investigate several alternatives under guidelines created last month that call for potential sites to be a maximum of 20 acres and compatible with surrounding neighborhoods.

The site-selection process is expected to take several months.

In the meantime, the head of the park’s tenant association said he is growing frustrated with setbacks and delays that have plagued the relocation effort, which began after years of health and safety violations at the park.

“It’s a time bomb waiting to explode,” said Luis Teran, referring to the aging and broken trailers that make up the Mobilehome Lodge. “We’re just waiting for something to happen and we hope it happens soon.”