Sky-Vue Mobile Park owners in another mess

Sito Negron

Wednesday, May 26, 2004 | 10:55 a.m.

The same day that government officials had a discussion regarding gaps in the inspection system for mobile home communities, they were finding more problems at a park owned by the Sky-Vue proprietors, this time at College Inn on Lake Mead Boulevard, where a maintenance man told inspectors about an illegal sewer pipe.

The Sky-Vue Mobile Park was closed by the city April 30 and has become a symbol for crumbling mobile home parks that have slipped through the cracks in the inspection system meant to enforce basic housing standards.

Sandi and David DiMarco own the Sky-Vue, which is along "homeless row" on Owens near Main. They also own two parks on Lake Mead, along a stretch between Pecos Road and Nellis Boulevard populated by more than 10 mobile home communities. Those two DiMarco parks are Trailer Vegas, 3975 E. Lake Mead, and College Inn, 4615 E. Lake Mead near Lamb.

Clark County Building Services Director Ron Lynn confirmed Tuesday that his inspectors, who have been to College Inn more than once recently, talked to a maintenance man who told them about the sewer pipe.

The pipe apparently was installed in December. The health district -- which eventually fined David DiMarco $10,000 for sewage that had leaked into the trench during installation -- informed the county's building department about the problem.

But, Lynn said, "by the time he (the inspector) got out there, there were no violations. He did see pipes stacked on site, and he asked the manager what they were going to do and they said they were going to put (in) piping, and he said they had to get a permit."

During follow-up inspections, Lynn said, "the pipe was gone." The installation apparently was done at night, and the trench covered up during the day so the inspector would not see anything, Lynn said.

"Normally speaking, people aren't this sneaky, to be frank with you," he said.

He said that his inspectors on Tuesday ordered the dirt to be cleared from atop the pipe so that it could be examined by a licensed plumber for problems. In addition, his inspectors ordered a survey of the property line to see if the pipe crosses onto the adjacent property.

Lynn said other problems at College Inn include a piece of copper wire used in place of a $25 to $50 fuse, which presents a fire hazard, and a damaged electrical panel.

Those problems were described by Lynn Tuesday morning, and by the afternoon he was sitting in on a panel called by Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, to discuss the issues presented by Sky-Vue and other parks found in recent months to have problems.

During the hearing, Clark County Health District Environmental Health Director Glenn Savage said that his inspectors have found a park in such disrepair he compared it to Sky-Vue. He would not say where it was in the county, citing the ongoing investigation.

"I don't know how many are out there but we're continuing to find them," Savage said.

There are more than 100 mobile home parks in the Las Vegas Valley, and while there is general agreement that most are clean, safe places to live, a handful have been found to have severe problems.

The hearing did not produce any startling new ideas, with the discussion re-emphasizing the need for communication -- at Sky-Vue, numerous inspection departments had visited, noted narrow pieces of the problem, and failed to put the picture together -- and some officials offering suggestions for legislation that might tighten loopholes.

Las Vegas Neighborhood Services Director Orlando Sanchez suggested that when a license to run a mobile home park changes hands, code enforcement and other agencies inspect the property.

Other suggestions included:

Doug Rankin, a liaison for Las Vegas Councilman Larry Brown, said that since the Sky-Vue situation, owners of parks in the city have been sprucing up their properties.

"Out of the bad, some good has happened," he said.

City inspectors pointed to Shady Acres, at Washington and Main just north of downtown, which is owned by Shady Acres LLC. Denise Karp, an officer in that corporation, sold Sky-Vue to the DiMarcos in 2002.

They said that problems with leaking sewers, overgrown brush and abandoned trailers at Shady Acres were being fixed, and contrasted that with what they said was the approach of the DiMarcos, who were accused of trying to pass off cosmetic fixes as repairs of severe safety defects.

Beth Jones, a former Sky-Vue manager, told government officials the answer to the problem was simple.

"The No. 1 thing you want to learn here is if there is a complaint, you go out there and check it out," said Jones, who said her previous complaints were ignored until the Las Vegas Sun began checking into the situation.

During Tuesday's hearing, government officials agreed that while there are problems at other mobile home parks, the situation at Sky-Vue was unusual in its severity and in the number of possible violations.

In addition to the health and safety concerns with leaking sewers and poor wiring, there was no business license because of a failure to install a fire hydrant, and numerous questions about how the trailers got to the park uninspected, how employees were paid, and whether tenants were fairly billed.

"If I had known about it I would have turned them in myself," said Marolyn Mann, executive director of the Manufactured Home Community Owners Association, speaking of the condition of Sky-Vue.

Giunchigliani wondered: "Why aren't these people in jail?"