Pacific Cove Closes With A Whisper

Pacific Cove Mobile Home Park was officially closed Tuesday, but several former residents had not yet reached settlements with the city.

Richard Castro, working on behalf of his mother Carol Brown, is stuck in this state of limbo.

“It's not about the money,” he said. “I just want my mom to be happy.”

Brown suffers from Alzheimer's and needs familiar surroundings to feel comfortable. The park offered that type of environment until it , displacing residents from the 44 units on the lower level of the property.

Since then the city has been negotiating amounts with residents who own their mobile homes to buy them out and relocate them so . Estimates for the value of Brown's mobile home put the unit at $3,650, but including the property value, the settlement the city initially offered offered was $89,000.

Castro said this is acceptable. The relocation assistance the city is offering is where he takes issue. Documents he was given state that the city will make up “any increase” where residents relocate within the city for 42 months. The one condition is that it is a comparable space and meets criteria as low to medium income housing category.

He found an acceptable unit for $662 per month, which is $332.74 more than what his mother had been paying at Pacific Cove. The difference would cost the city over $15,000. Now, according to Castro, City officials are saying they will only pay for another unit Brown and Castro looked at which costs $435 per month. 

Because residents who have not settled are in the minority, the city is already looking to plans for clearing out the water-damaged units and pursuing future uses for the land. A parking lot to relieve overcrowding in the busy summer months is being designed by public works, but Director Steve Jesberg said that project won't be underway until spring of 2013.

“We are not going to begin clearing out the units until all the residents have settled,” he said. “[The cleaning process] won't be done as one big project but probably in three phases.”

At their meeting on July 26, the city council approved a list of three private contractors who will bid on each phase. There is no specific date set for that work to begin. Until then, the park will remain a ghost town, with a few residents and friends stopping in to grab anything they left behind.

Castro was recovering $5,000 worth of redwood on Tuesday and another resident was grabbing garden supplies from the front of her former home.

“Most of the people have moved on,” she said, asking not to be named. “But the folks who haven't settled yet are in a much worse position.”

She said it is important for people to know that residents are still around and that the park closing should not be taken as an invititation to loot the property for remaining belongings.