Time's up for Denver trailer park
"Where will we go?" asked Belmont Trailer Park resident Lourdes Rascon, holding her son Abel. Residents of the park at 4406 Morrison Road have until July to vacate.
By Christopher N. Osher | cosher@denverpost.com | The Denver Post
PUBLISHED: November 26, 2009 at 2:47 pm | UPDATED: May 6, 2016 at 7:36 pm
The mobile homes at Belmont Trailer Park on Denver's west side aren't fancy.
Their makeshift plywood porches are gathering places where cherished memories are made, like the celebration that drew about 50 people from Lourdes Rascon's church to mark the installation of a Virgin of Guadalupe statue in her living room.
And the trailer park is home, say Belmont residents, some of whom have lived there for more than 20 years.
But city officials have another term for the 40-home neighborhood at 4406 Morrison Road: a non-conforming use.
Last month, Denver's zoning administrator, Michael O'Flaherty, notified the owners of the Belmont — one of only a few trailer parks left in Denver — that they have until July to shut down the park because of inspection and zoning violations.
Denver banned mobile-home parks in 1956, declaring them a non-conforming use, but allowed existing parks to remain as long as they continued to meet safety standards and did not expand.
Belmont, where a mobile home runs $3,000 to $5,000 to buy and a lot rental is $350 a month, has lived on as a well-known place to find cheap housing.
That is until recently, when Belmont began attracting complaints. The city's neighborhood-services inspectors visited in July and found code violations at all but six of the trailers.
They found makeshift sheds and porches made of tin and plywood — structures that had been built without permits.
They also found safety hazards, including faulty electrical wiring, a leaking gas line and the use of propane to heat a handful of the mobile homes in the park — which, according to city records, has been around since at least 1946.
Enclosures, sheds added
The inspectors also could not find required log sheets that would document smoke detectors and portable fire extinguishers.
The trailer park's landowners, Vince and Marley Vranesic, say they have told the city that they will clear up the electrical problems and any other safety issues.
Still, O'Flaherty said the fact that the owners of the mobile homes have added on wood enclosures, porches and sheds without city authorization has put Belmont out of compliance with the city's zoning laws.
"They can't expand the use; they can't increase the square footage of use," O'Flaherty said in a recent interview. "By building the wood-frame additions to trailers without getting prior approval to expand the square footage of the use, it terminated the legal status."
O'Flaherty and Sue Cobb, a spokeswoman for Community Planning and Development, said the city is trying to reduce the stress of residents having to move in the middle of winter, or in the middle of the school year, and will give them until next summer to relocate.
"We deliberated about the mechanics of the termination and made what we thought was a reasonable decision, given the human factor," O'Flaherty said.
The Vranesics have appealed to the Denver Board of Adjustment, a five-member board of mayoral appointees. A hearing is scheduled in January.
Owners making fixes
The landowners say O'Flaherty's stance is cruel, considering it will oust their tenants from their homes. Further, the Vranesics say they invested $1.6 million to buy the land five years ago and may go bankrupt if their tenants are given the boot.
"We are complying with the safety issue, but apparently, that doesn't mean anything to the city, and I don't understand that," said Marley Vranesic, who said she and her husband have spent at least $18,000 fixing electrical problems since they received notification in October.
Ramon Luis, owner of La California, a Mexican restaurant at the edge of the Belmont, has his own worries.
When he saw the city inspectors taking photos at the Belmont, he worried whether it was safe to renew his restaurant's lease. The Vranesics told him it was.
"I built this from zero," Luis recently said, gesturing to the prep line and electric grill he installed four years ago along with the tile flooring.
Worse, he said, relocating would force him to rebuild his customer base for his huge tortas and chile rellenos that he says are the best in town.
The city decided the restaurant won't have to close, but Luis still wonders what will happen if the Vranesics sell their land.
News of the eviction is worrisome for trailer-park resident Rascon, her husband and four children.
"My family, where will we go?" wondered the 40-year-old, whose husband's landscaping business has dried up, leaving the $150 she is paid weekly to clean homes as the family's livelihood. "I bought this home for my children."
She paid $5,000 in cash two years ago to buy the mobile home from her brother, Luis.
This week, she stood on her porch and watched her brother give a battered Cutlass a tune-up to survive the drive to Oklahoma so three of her children could see their aunt and uncle for Thanksgiving.
Her home is too old to relocate, and she doesn't have the money to move it anyway. She said she will miss the home if the family is forced to leave.
"I feel like we have no recourse," Rascon said.
Advocate appointed
Councilman Paul Lopez, who represents the area of the city where the Belmont is located, said he is working to ensure that the residents get aid from the city.
"The current conditions of the property are very dangerous and not acceptable living standards for anyone, period," Lopez said. "The residents deserve affordable, decent and safe housing."
Denver Department of Human Services spokeswoman Revekka Balancier said her agency is appointing an advocate to work with residents at the Belmont to help them apply for assistance.
Questions, though, still persist.
The eyes of 16-year-old Brenda Cruz grew big with surprise when she recently heard that the city wanted to close the Belmont down.
"What will they do with our trailer?" she asked.
Christopher N. Osher: 303-954-1747 or cosher@denverpost.com
Christopher N. Osher
Christopher N. Osher is a reporter on the investigation team at The Denver Post who has covered law enforcement, judicial and regulatory issues for the news organization. He also has reported from war zones in Africa.
Follow Christopher N. Osher	@chrisosher
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