Court considers extending order against mobile park

Sito Negron

Tuesday, April 13, 2004 | 9:45 a.m.

A court was to consider this morning whether to extend a temporary order forcing the operators of Sky-Vue Mobile Park to clean up conditions "injurious to the public health."

The court order, issued Friday in response to a Clark County Health District request, tells the owners to make immediate repairs. That Friday order prompted a visit by a team of top Las Vegas city officials over the weekend to explain to Sky-Vue residents what was happening and to give them the option of taking vouchers for up to five days at a Budget Suites while their homes are being repaired.

Over the weekend residents at Sky-Vue had mixed opinions about what was happening. While a good number left, many stayed.

For those who left, one worry was about what would happen after the five-day vouchers ran out. Officials on the scene Friday said the city was working to find transitional housing for residents whose trailers aren't ready for them after five days.

The Health District's application for the Friday court order asserted that raw sewage was leaking from multiple sewer lines and pooling under and adjacent to occupied trailers. It also states that electricity to most units is obtained through extension cords, "which are not meant to be the source of primary power to a residence."

Many of the cords lay on "bare wet ground, creating risks of both electrocution and fire," according to the application, which also notes that electrical panels are unprotected.

Finally, it states that water to all the mobile homes is supplied by garden hoses, with many "submerged in the (pooled) sewage." If the hose is ruptured -- "even with a pinhole," states the application -- when the water is turned on, sewage would be pulled into the potable water supply.

In addition to those assertions in the health district's application for a court order, the trailers in the park -- some rented and others owned by their occupants, who lease the space -- are in generally poor condition, with many having problems ranging from holes in the floors and ceilings to damaged doors and windows.

The park has been operating without a business license since October and has been under orders to install fire hydrants and make other safety improvements for more than 18 months. Multiple inspections by the city since August, and more recently, by the state of Nevada and the Clark County Board of Health, noted faulty wiring, blocked exits, broken windows, and leaking sewer pipes and water lines, the Sun investigation found.

It wasn't until the last several weeks that the agencies began to develop a coordinated response. Officials pointed to the nature of the inspection process -- in which different departments enforce different types of codes -- and the lack of manpower as factors that allowed Sky-Vue to deteriorate.