Progress In, Mobile Homes Out

Arie Van-Klaveren had a life plan when he moved into the Oasis Mobilehome Park 24 years ago.

“I thought I would be here for the rest of my life,” the 65-year-old recently retired steel fabricator said. “I thought that until they threw a monkey wrench into my plans.”

Along with those of 150 of his mostly elderly neighbors, Van Klaveren’s home of more than two decades soon will become the city’s property and his quiet, adults-only mobile home park will be razed to make room for a 14-acre entertainment center approved by city officials Tuesday night by a 4-1 vote.

More than 100 residents of the beleaguered mobile home park attended the special meeting to protest the so-called E-Street development at Harbor Boulevard and Chapman Avenue. The center will boast a multiscreen movie theater, restaurants and retail shops and will be the largest development of its kind in Garden Grove.

Early Tuesday, angry residents gathered in the park’s holiday-adorned clubhouse to map out meeting strategies, assign topics to speakers and worry openly about their futures.

“I don’t want to go,” 20-year park resident Louise Rilea said. “I haven’t the vaguest idea where I’ll go. I can’t find anything comparable to what I have here for the rent I pay.”

During those 20 years, the “over 70-year-old” Rilea lost her husband and had two hip replacement surgeries and a knee replacement. The park’s swimming pool, hot tub and exercise equipment help keep her spry, she said.

But the park’s amenities are secondary to the security Rilea said she feels within its walls.

“I feel safe here. It’s like a big family. We look out for one another. Every Monday we meet here and play cards. Now we have to move to a strange place where we know no one and start all over. At our age?”

Joyce Madigan worries because the city has offered her only $27,200 for the 12-year-old coach she and her husband Jim purchased for $45,000 four years ago. And where, the couple wonder, will they find another spot with such low rents?

Oasis’ park rents average $450 and vary with length of residence and type of space. It is the sole seniors-only mobile home remaining in Garden Grove.

City officials have earmarked about $6 million to acquire the 12-acre park, purchase its 127 coaches and pay relocation costs for its more than 150 residents.

Several businesses, including Belisle’s Restaurant and Mile High Comics, will also be acquired to make room for the new development.

Tuesday night’s action by the council, with Councilman Bob Dinsen dissenting, requires the city to acquire and deliver the 14 acres of land needed for the project. Developer Westrust Asset Management Corp. is obliged to reach agreements with tenants and build the center. City officials have pitched Garden Grove’s Anaheim-adjacent areas to developers in an effort to take advantage of Disneyland’s planned expansion.

“If we want to stay a viable community and capitalize on our opportunities we have to increase the economic base of the community,” City Manager George Tindall said.

Oasis residents see it differently.

“Garden Grove has always been a bedroom community, and what’s the matter with that?” asked 11-year resident Nick Buchino.