| Residents
of Faith Acres Mobile Home Park will soon have to vacate for their
safety and the safety of the community.
Three Rivers District Health Department issued a notice of suspension
on March 5, requiring the property be vacated due to uncorrected
health code violations.
From March 7, the residents have 35 days to vacate, allowing the
park’s owner, Jerry Brewer, time to serve evictions.
“It looks to me like suspension is emminent regardless,”
said Justin Pittman, Environmental Health Director.
Brewer could not be reached for comment at press time.
From illegal sewer connections to rodents, some “non-critical”
violations have continued for more than a year, according to a
statement from Three Rivers.
Because of the violations, permits for homes in the park are suspended.
A re-instatement can be filed at a later time, but Pittman said
that would only happen after a “180-degree turnaround.”
The park has been around for more than 30 years.
Health inspections are required once a year, but five have been
done in the past six months on the park. Responsibilty for correcting
the violations and any repercussions fall on the permit holder,
whether it be the park owner or the individual resident.
“The unfortunate side is that (some) residents may be completely
unaware,” Pittman said.
The intial inspection was done on Oct. 18, 2006. In the report,
Pittman cited problems with trash handling and safety. A note
at the bottom of the report says that the inspection was discussed
with Brewer.
A follow-up was made on Oct. 27. While some corrections were made,
many of the violations remained.
From that inspection, Pittman said he wrote a letter detailing
repairs that were needed.
Another inspection was made on Dec. 1, and another letter sent,
showing the corrected and non-corrected violations. The problem
of debris from vacant lots had been corrected, but others remained.
For example, three vacant mobile homes had broken windows and
missing or open doors. In his letter Pittman said even though
some windows had been boarded up, many were still broken.
Attached to the letter was an enforcement notice of the intent
to suspend the permit for the park. Pittman advised Brewer that
he had “the right to a conference,” and a Request
for Conference was also attached. Brewer signed the request, and
a conference was scheduled for Jan. 3, 2007.
Brewer was ordered to make the necessary corrections within 10
days – unless he requested an extension, which would have
allowed an extra 30 days. The 30 days were up on Feb. 28.
In a letter dated Jan. 29, after yet another follow-up inspection,
Pittman reminds Brewer that this is his “final extension.”
“I feel that we have been extremely flexible in allowing
these violations to continue,” Pittman writes, “but
I want to be very clear that I do not intend to allow it any further
as the health and safety of the residents could be threatened.”
He added that another inspection would take place March 1, and
if any violations remained, a notice of suspension would be issued.
The final inspection, on March 2 detailed the remaining violations:
“improper sewer connections, a car battery and air conditioner
disposed of on the grounds, trash and appliances scattered on
the grounds, boards with exposed nails” and more.
Once the permit is terminated, the park must be brought up to
the current code before a new permit is issued.
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