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Show She Salt Lake Tribune SATURDAY,May 27, 1995 SECTIONE 6 OBITUARIES CLASSIFIEDS Page E-2 Page E-3 PAINT SALE Mobile-Home Owners To Form Coalition to Through Saturday Protect Their Rights By Rebecca Walsh THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE WEST VALLEY CITY — Mo- bile-home owners are essentially renters. Andlike renters, they are subject to the landowner’s rules In Meadowbrook Village Mo- bile Home Park, residents say they are continually harassed by the manager and fear eviction if they complain Although most mobile-home dwellers own their homes, they rent the land they park the home on. And for that privilege, they pay a price “Our manageris making up the rules as he goes along,” said Alan Smith, who moved into Meadowbrook eight months ago. ‘People are scared to death of the landlords.” At Meadowbrook, residents routinely receive 15-day eviction notices demanding cleanup or painting or moving vehicles to anotherlocation, even ceasing to use swear wordsin conversation. Manager Rodney Cox said heis merely maintaining a clean, healthy environment for all the residents of the 303-unit park. “This is like my Bible,” he said, reading the contract residents sign when they movein. “I don’t changeit.” West Valley City Manager John Patterson said he was ‘‘sympathetic with what they're suffering. ButI’m cautious about getting involyed in a tenant-landlord dispute.” And therein lies the problem for most mobile-home owners: governmentandlaw-enforcement officials shy away from their complaints because they live on borrowedland. So Smith and his neighbors are forming a community council in West Valley City to gain protection and a better definition of their rights. Mobile-home parks have many and varied rules about landscaping, painting, where vehicles can be parked and pet ownership. And in most cases, renters can do nothing but comply. Meadowbrook’s rules include landscaping within 60 days of movingin, keeping decks clear of everything but barbecues and lawn furniture and storing garbage cans out of sight. Lawn fur- MEMORIAL DAY niture must be approved by the manager. Butresidents said the rules are enforced unequally, depending on the ageof the mobile home, its size and residents’ complaints to management. Kathy Eckert and her husband movedinto a homein February. They are too busytrying to complete Cox’s list of 16 requirements to pick up their furniture, which is still stored in PREMIUM EXTERIOR LATEX Elko, Nev. Eckert received a 15-day notice May2. “Wearejust little bit worried, becauseif we are forced to move. we don’t know where we'd go, she said. Manyparksare phasing out the older, narrower mobile-home models in favor of new ‘“‘doublewide” trailers for which they can charge morerent Caffie Reyes bought a 1976 trailer in February. But she and her husband and three children have notyet movedin because the menager at Parkway Mobile Homes required exterior im- provements in exchange for allowing the family to live in the narrow home. Now,she fears she will lose the home because the manager said the improvements, including new $1,000 siding. are not good enough. Her eviction notice has already expired, and the homeis still standing on its spot “Everything we've done, we've done within the laws of the state of Utah,” said the manager of Parkway, who wouldnotgive his name “We'relookingto seeif this is a trend,” said Ivanne Salazar, an advocate with Salt Lake Community Action Program. Salazar said mobile-home owners are ready victims. State law allows a no-cause, 15-day eviction Reg. 20% Rick Egan/TheSalt Lake Tribune Kathy and Harold Eckert are repairing their deck to avoid eviction from a mobile-homep ark. CheSalt Lake Cribune Exterior Flat Latex. Premium 100%acrylic latex paint for siding andtrim. Choosefrom 11 coordinating factory-made colors. Also available in an unlimited choiceof customtints.” * Unlimited choice of custom tint colors just $1 per gallon more. presents Newspaper Day! Deluxe Roller & Tray Kit Great Quality at a Great Price. This reusable kit won't fall apart on youin the middle of a project. 9” frame, cover & sturdy steel tray. R905. and managers can rewrite park rules with a 60-day notice. “There is nothing the homeowners can do,” she said. “But any coalition can do good.” Utah Tenants United is an advocacy group formed to inform apartment dwellers. Smith hopes his Meadowbrook Community Council can do something for mobile-home owners. For moreinformation, call 261-1067 Judge Who Kept Doors Closed Ripped Green Group in Ad By Mike Carter THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The judge who ruled against the Southern Utah Wilderness Association's petition to open secret meetings over Utah's wilderness bill once ran an advertisementattacking the environmental group. Lyle Anderson placed the advertisement in 1992 while running for the Utah Houseof Representatives and before he was appointed to the 7th Judicial District bench. Anderson on Thursday denied a SUWA petition seeking access to meetings between county commissioners andstate officials over a proposed Utah wildernessbill. Meantime, SUWAand the Society of Professional Journalists were scathing Friday in their criticism of the decision by county, state and congressional officials to hold a series of wilderness briefings behind closed doors “The wilderness debate is a public issue and such issues should be discussed in public,” said Jay Evensen, presidentof the Utah Headliners chapter of the SPJ. ‘In effect, the county commissioners have broken the law by meeting behind closed doors.” The delegation has put together a wilderness bill aimed at setting aside Bureau of Land Managementlands in central and southern Utah for wilderness protection. The planis to introduce the bill to Congress by June 6 Before doing so, they wanted to privately brief county officials about the proposed legislation's content The meetings began Thursday and continued Friday, with staffers meeting with groups of one or two commissioners at restaurants andin private homes. Critics said the intent was obvious; to circumvent Utah's Open and Public Meetings Law by avoiding a gathering that would constitute a quorum. Vicky Varela, spokeswoman for Gov, Mike Leavitt, referred all questions to the delegations, Teleas ) phone messages left with the offices of Utah Reps. Jim Hansen, Enid Waldholtz and Bill Orton and Sen. Orrin Hatch were not immediately returned Friday. SUWA wentto court on Thursday, seeking to open meetings in Grand and San Juan counties. The petition was summarily denied by Anderson “Utah law does not require that meetings convened by federalofficials be open or advertised,” the judge wrote. In 1992, before his appointment to the bench, Anderson ran for the Legislature. In a Sept. 3, 1992 advertisement in the Moab Times-Independent, he warned residents of San Juan, Grand and Emery counties to be ready for an escalation in the war over the land. “Southeastern Utah has been the site of several battles over the use of public land,” proclaimed the advertisement. “Now that the Southern Utah Wilderness Association has an office in Moab, those battles will become morefrequent. I think residents of Southeastern Utah know whereI stand, I ama solid advocate for multiple use.” Laterin the advertisement, An derson promised to “remain true to those beliefs.” Anderson, contacted Friday, said he is barred by the canons of judicial ethics from commenting on his ruling. He added, however, that SUWA could have asked him to step aside, but didn’t, Judges can recuse themselves from a case without prompting by either side if they believe they have a real or perceived conflict with an issue before them. Anderson said that his political views of three years ago areirrelevant now that he's on the bench “When I agreed to become a judge I had to set aside the partigan political view I held before then," he said, “Any public statements I may have made before| took judicial office are from different life, and I agreed to give that up." 10%, Repwoop STAIN gal reg. 17% Exterior Latex Stain. Rich, solid-hiding redwood color Sat., May 27 & Mon., May 29 This Memorial Day weekend, bring the whole family to Lagoon and start the summer off right! Just bring the front page from TheSalt LakeTribune for siding, fences & rustic lawn furniture. Goes on bare, rough woodlike stain, yet covers faded woodgrain, old stains orfinisheslike a paint. Cleans up with soap and water. 6104 Paint 8¢ Wallcovering Stores to the Lagoon ticket window and get Two All-day Passports for the price of One! Your All-day Passport includes Lagoon A Beach, Rides and all the Entertainment that makes summer fun, And, while you're there, stop by the Newspapertruck by Colossus and Play “Paperboy.” You could WIN @ Lagoon All-day Passports @ T-shirts and lots of other great prizes. "Purchase one Regular All-Day Adult Passport and recelve a second one FREE Eachfront page of the newspaper Is good for only one "2 for 1" pass. Offer good only on May 27 & 29, 1995, There’s Only ONE... Lagsen : { -} WESTVALLEY 3040 W, 3500 § 966-1491 SANDY 9301 So. 700 East 566-9321 ROY 5451 So, 1900 West 776-8635 It pays to buy your paint.at.a-REAL paint store—where paintiis a CLAIMS RSL ee |
