From trailer park to landmark

The Monterey Trailer Park is history.

On a unanimous vote with no discussion Tuesday, the Los Angeles City Council approved a “historic-cultural landmark” designation for tree-shaded trailer park in Highland Park, which served as an “auto camp” in the early days of long-distance car travel in the 1920s. Officials say there are no other trailer parks on the city, state or federal historical registers.

“That’s it?” asked manager Don Brown after the no-nonsense vote.

“That’s it,” affirmed Ken Bernstein, preservation specialist with the Los Angeles Conservancy, which lobbied for the designation.

The 1.7-acre site stands in Highland Park near the city’s border with South Pasadena. Owner Peter Young, who had opposed the designation, did not appear at the council meeting.

Brown, resident manager of the park and a 19-year tenant, said the designation would make little difference in day-to-day life at the site, where tenants continue to live in 22 trailers and mobile homes. Under city law, however, the landmark designation restricts the owner’s ability to make changes at the site without getting city approval first.