County draws from state funds to help 12 families relocate from Oasis Mobile Home Park

Eliana Perez, Palm Springs Desert Sun
·3 min read
Oasis Mobile Home Park sits on Torres Martinez Reservation land which is privately owned by Scott Lawson. The owner has been cited for violations of not providing potable water to the residents of the mobile park by the Environmental Protection Agency for the state of California.
Oasis Mobile Home Park sits on Torres Martinez Reservation land which is privately owned by Scott Lawson. The owner has been cited for violations of not providing potable water to the residents of the mobile park by the Environmental Protection Agency for the state of California.

The Riverside County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted last week to use $279,000 of a $30 million state grant to help 12 families move out of the troubled Oasis Mobile Home Park by early next year.

The money will be used to complete the development of the Maria y Jose Mobile Home Park, a 12-space park in the unincorporated area of Oasis. All spaces will be reserved for residents of Oasis Mobile Home Park in Thermal.

The county obtained the $30 million relocation assistance grant in July 2021, specifically to help families leave Oasis Mobile Home Park. The park has long had issues with its sewer system, trash overflow and has been repeatedly cited by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for having water that is contaminated with high levels of arsenic.

Plans for the Maria y Jose Mobile Home Park include connecting it to Coachella Valley Water District water and sewer lines, and the installation of a new electrical system and paved roads, according to District 4 Supervisor V. Manuel Perez's office.

In June 2022, the county's board of supervisors approved the first withdrawal from the grant funds in the amount of $7 million to help expedite construction of the Oasis Villas Apartment Housing project, also in the town of Oasis. Though not all of the 80 apartment units meant to be completed in the first phase of the project were guaranteed for Oasis Mobile Home Park residents, the county stipulated that they would have preference.

Plans for construction of the first phase of the Oasis Villas Apartment Housing showed a completion date of March 2025.

Oasis Mobile Home Park residents said they were told late last year that tentative dates to finish construction of new housing in the area that they could relocate to were about five years away.

But county representatives said they are also working to get approximately 18 existing mobile home parks in the eastern Coachella Valley proper permits and improved infrastructure so they can become options for additional Oasis Mobile Home Park families to move into more quickly.

“I think we’ve come a long way, we still have a ways to go,” Perez said. “The importance here is that, although we have plans to build housing which is going to take a year or longer than that — two, three, four, five years out — we’re also working with our Polanco parks (to) advance their efforts to make sure that we’re able to move folks from Oasis Mobile Home Park sooner.”

Perez estimated that more families could relocate to upgraded mobile home parks within the next six months.

Fourth District Supervisor V. Manuel Perez, right, and Mountain View Estates owner Bobby Melkesian greet one another prior to speaking to some of the members of the 18 families that moved into new mobile homes at Mountain View Estates in Oasis, Calif., on January 9, 2021.
Fourth District Supervisor V. Manuel Perez, right, and Mountain View Estates owner Bobby Melkesian greet one another prior to speaking to some of the members of the 18 families that moved into new mobile homes at Mountain View Estates in Oasis, Calif., on January 9, 2021.

Heidi Marshall, the county’s housing department director, said that since January 2021, the county has assisted with relocating 49 families from Oasis Mobile Home Park to Mountain View Estates, a mobile home park equipped with proper infrastructure and various amenities. Another 21 families are awaiting new homes at Mountain View Estates, Marshall said.

Oasis Mobile Home Park is home to an estimated 238 families.

Marshall said county officials have held three community meetings with residents of the park in recent months, to ensure that they are receiving updates. Officials plan to continue holding meetings monthly, with the next meeting scheduled Nov. 30.

Eliana Perez covers the eastern Coachella Valley. Reach her at eliana.perez@thedesertsun.com

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: County to help 12 families relocate from Oasis Mobile Home Park by early 2023