Study Irks Residents of Mobile Home Park

After nearly a year of studying Stanton’s largest mobile home park, the Katella Mobile Home Estates Review Committee submitted its final report to the City Council on Tuesday, and residents were immediately critical of the results.

“It was what I expected it would be: a waste of our time and their time,” said Russ Bartlett, who lives at Katella Mobile Home Estates.

Park residents have complained bitterly to council members for years, saying that living conditions are poor and that unreasonable rent increases have forced dozens of senior citizens out of their homes.

A seven-member committee made up of residents, other mobile home park owners and managers was established last year to address those concerns.

In its report, the group did not make recommendations to the council on the rent issue. “The committee felt it was not within their mission,” Stanton City Manager Terry Matz said.

The committee suggested that residents take their complaints about rent increases to a mediator, rather than to the City Council, because the city has no authority to negotiate disputes between the owners and residents of mobile home parks.

The panel study also recommended that the owner of the Katella park put in new street signs and that the residents start a Neighborhood Watch program.