Problems found at mobile parks in county

Sito Negron

Thursday, May 27, 2004 | 10:51 a.m.

County building officials found more problems at DiMarco mobile home parks on Tuesday and Wednesday. Today they were to go to court in the city of Las Vegas for operating their Sky-Vue Mobile Park without a business license.

The Sky-Vue, closed April 30 because health and safety officials claimed the DiMarcos were not making progress in completing repairs, is in the city of Las Vegas. The other two DiMarco parks, College Inn and Trailer Vegas, are on E. Lake Mead Boulevard in unincorporated Clark County's Sunrise Manor, between the cities of Las Vegas and North Las Vegas.

John Hanks, a media consultant hired by the DiMarcos, said the couple plans to comply with all orders and make their parks safe, clean places to live.

"Their intention is to ... bring everything up to code, which has been their intention in every situation," said Hanks.

On Tuesday, county officials confirmed they had been told that a sewer line was illegally installed at College Inn, 4615 E. Lake Mead. Wednesday, they said they found substandard electrical wiring and other problems in 25 of the 27 homes inspected at Trailer Vegas, 3975 E. Lake Mead.

They also found sewer problems; for example, pipes installed at such angles that they could not flow properly.

"In the laundry room, one of the washing machines had an improper fitting which caused it to backwash into the other washer," said Clark County Building Services director Ron Lynn. "Some of this stuff is strange stuff."

He also said that he had been told by former DiMarco employees that there were more serious problems buried beneath the ground -- arcing electrical wires and illegally installed sewer lines, for example -- but that he had not yet confirmed that. Lynn said he would ask the DiMarcos to allow excavation, and if they didn't do so voluntarily, he would seek a court order to force the action.

Hanks said that the DiMarcos have already spent thousands of dollars trying to fix problems at their parks.

"The intention is to spend as much as it takes to comply," he said, adding he did not know how much had been spent so far or would be required. "They're doing the repairs and protecting their interest in covering everything they need to."

Hanks said that he was hired because "this thing is so public and embroiled in legal issues, they had to engage an attorney and some media consulting because of the sheer volume of the press attention."

Hanks said he didn't know how much the lawyers cost, but that his fees were hourly and ranged from $35 to $125 per hour, depending on the services provided.

One of the problems encountered by the DiMarcos in the Sky-Vue case was their lack of a business license. That was because they had not installed a fire hydrant as ordered by the city since 2000, before they bought the park in 2002. As a result, starting from when they bought the park, they received a series of temporary business licenses, the last of which expired in October and was not renewed.

The city began citing them for each day they operated without a business license, starting April 13. The penalty could be up to $1,000 for each day of violation until the park was closed April 30, and six months in jail.

The case will be in Las Vegas municipal court today at 1 p.m.

Hanks said that he thinks the DiMarcos are sincerely trying to fix problems, despite assertions by public officials that they failed to put in a good-faith effort to make repairs at Sky-Vue.

"Overall, my reading is their intent was to solve the problem and stay in business and comply with the code," he said.

When asked how that squares with their hiring him and a lawyer, and whether they would have enough money to complete repairs to Sky-Vue, still under "fix-it" orders from the city and health district, Hanks said "their livelihood is at stake here, and their repair bill to fix the park is much more I think than a little legal help from an attorney, because without that they may end up with nothing ... . If they can find the resources they'll do it, and if they can't they won't."