Why seniors and disabled people are being forced to move from Stanislaus campground
When she received the notice in early April, telling her to leave within 30 days, Jackie Gregory thought she and her husband would pack their stuff in the motorhome and relocate to Oregon.
But Gregory wants to help the people at this campground that she has come to know.
“They are scrambling with nowhere to go,” Gregory said. “We are all disabled, older and on a fixed income. I’m just heartbroken and want to help any way I can.”
About a dozen people randomly came together in a makeshift community at the River’s Edge RV Park and Campgrounds in Knights Ferry, an historic town in eastern Stanislaus County. The Academy Award-nominated movie Nomadland features people like them who live in motorhomes and vans for economic reasons and stay on the move.
In Knights Ferry, the motorhome residents like Jackie Gregory, Lisa Mendoza and Michael Johnson — all of whom received notices to leave by May 8 — want to stay in the peace and quiet of this scenic campground alongside the Stanislaus River.
Most of the residents have lived there for one or two years, but some more than 10 years, in what county officials say is campground permitted for short-term use.
“This is my family,” said Johnson, who struggles with depression and anxiety. “I will have trouble living anywhere else.”
The RV tenants pay their rent and face the move-out order after the county and state have disallowed evictions due to the COVID-19 epidemic in the past year.
Johnson and others familiar with the sticky situation said they are caught in the middle of politics between the owners of the River’s Edge campground and adjacent restaurant and community leaders in Knights Ferry.
With its row of motorhome hookups and tiny houses, the River’s Edge might seem like a model for housing people on the verge of homelessness, in a county that’s tormented by homeless issues. But these residents face long odds in trying to live permanently at the River’s Edge.
“They were allowed to move in under false pretenses,” said Dolly Haskell, a leading member of the Knights Ferry Municipal Advisory Council. “They were told they could stay. Well, they can’t.”
Residents share, and support each other
Lisa Mendoza, who said she was diagnosed with liver cancer in 2018, could no longer work and lost her car and house because the rent was too high. The former Oakdale resident bought a trailer and moved to the River’s Edge when a space opened in January.
Mendoza goes to Manteca for chemotherapy and radiation treatment for the stage IV cancer. “I like the peace and the town,” Mendoza said. “Cancer feeds on stress. I feel close to God here.”
Mendoza, 50, said her grandkids visit, staying in one of the campground’s tiny cabins, and they walk to the ice cream shop and local cafe.
Susz Lay was staying in her motor home at Woodward Reservoir north of Oakdale, reached the time limit there, and then was parking on the roadside, before someone told her about the Knights Ferry park, she said.
Lay, 73, pays $790 a month for a choice spot on the river, with picnic tables, a barbecue pit and bird feeder. She sits in a chair and shoots a water gun at rafters that float by her spot, she said.
Lay said it will be hard to find another place, as RV parks usually choose to rent spaces for newer vehicles.
Rita Gwin, who drove a city bus in Escalon for 30 years, said she has no options for moving. The 78-year-old can’t afford repairs on her trailer so the vehicle can be registered and qualify for a private RV park.
Gwin is known for cupcakes she bakes for her neighbors, who share food and support each other.
Michael Johnson, who once owned a barber shop in Modesto, says he is “homeless with a trailer.” If forced to leave, Johnson said, he will likely have no choice but return to a city and park the trailer in front of someone’s house.
Two of the long-standing residents, known to some townspeople as “Miguel and Uncle Dave”, created a buzz when they recently walked to church and told people about the move-out order. Miguel Vazquez, 66, has maintained the campground for more than 10 years and now is out of a job.
“I don’t have anywhere to go,” Dave Safrans said.
Some Knights Ferry residents who support the group say the one-acre campground was more rowdy in previous days when travelers camped there before attending music festivals in the region.
Owner claims she is hounded by complaints
Jie “Connie” Mei, the property owner of the campground and River’s Edge restaurant, said she’s had no peace since acquiring the property five years ago. The restaurant and campground were once operated together as a resort.
Mei said a neighbor and member of the Knights Ferry Municipal Advisory Council have lodged numerous complaints about the campground and upgrades made to the restaurant. The municipal advisory councils in unincorporated communities are an extension of county government, among other things serving as eyes and ears for the county.
“No matter what I do it is wrong,” said Mei, a native of China who speaks limited English. “They do not leave me alone.”
Mei has two applications for permits to legalize changes at the restaurant and campground, both of which are in response to county code enforcement actions that originated with complaints from the community, said Angela Freitas, county director of planning and community development.
Freitas said the code enforcement has gone on for more than a year.
Because Knights Ferry has an historical zoning district, Mei is applying to the state for a permit to operate the campground for short-term RV users (no more than 30 days) and tent campers.
Mei said she served the long-term motorhome tenants with 30-day notices out of fear the county will keep tacking on code enforcement fines of $200 to $400 a pop.
Freitas said the campground was never permitted for long-term RV stays or for the tiny cabins-on-wheels that the owner placed at the campground.
Freitas said the code enforcement action is not calling for the motorhome dwellers to leave at this time. “Any eviction is something (the owner is) proceeding with,” Freitas said.
Freitas said the Knights Ferry historical zoning district does not allow mobile home parks, and a long-term RV park would be classified as the same. “Someone could request to amend the zoning on the property to allow that, but I don’t know that Knights Ferry would support it,” Freitas said.
Ray Spears, a manager for Mei, said the county has been fair and more than helpful, but he vouched for claims that Mei and her businesses have been targets of excessive complaints.
Spears said complaints from the MAC claiming illegal improvements at the restaurant focused on upgrades that were done in the 1970s by previous owners.
“Now that Connie bought the property they have gone after her guns ablazing,” Spears said.
Carla Doshas, a friend of Mei’s and a former MAC member, said the businesswoman has been the target of nitpicking and off-the-charts attacks. At one MAC meeting, Doshas said, Haskell was complaining about the tiny cabins placed at the campground. Doshas said she told her the tone of the comments was inappropriate.
Haskell said, “There is no personal attack involved. We represent the community and we are here to enforce and maintain the historic integrity of the community.”
“It is blatant what they are trying to do,” said Doshas, who resigned from the MAC in March 2019. “They want to run Connie out of town. Connie has done nothing but tried to improve this town.”
During a phone interview, Mei speculated that she hears so many he complaints because she is Asian.
Shavon Haskell, a current MAC member, said the complaints are not about race.
“What she has done is created a trailer park without proper permitting and she allowed people to stay there for years,” Haskell said. “You can say you are being nitpicked. The truth is, she just does what she wants and when she gets caught, she says, ‘Oh, I didn’t know.’”
Dolly Haskell said the county code enforcement action against the River’s Edge was initiated by complaints from the community.
“The community as a whole brings their issues to the MAC and we intercede with the county for resolution,” Dolly Haskell said. “She is using my name and other people’s names as though we are the complainants. That is not necessarily the case. The community brings issues to us and we hand them off to the county.”
Under the new plan for the campground, Mei’s proposal would have a dozen RV spaces for short stays, a half dozen 120-square-foot cabins and four tent camping spaces.
In formal comments on the historic site permit application in December, the Knights Ferry MAC said the project may have a significant effect on the environment with impacts including a septic service for six additional bathrooms and kitchens, emergency services access and density of camping units.
Other potential impacts are increased fire danger, gray water disposal and septic tank capacity, said the MAC, which also called for a fire hydrant or water tank at the site.
Historical preservation is important for Knights Ferry
Haskell said the historic preservation is almost the top priority of the council. The town listed on the National Register of Historic Places has buildings dating to the 1800s and features a 300-foot covered bridge.
Haskell said she is sympathetic to the people living at the River’s Edge. She expects to hear a detailed county report on the campground issues in mid-May.
County staff said environmental resources conducted an inspection of the campground April 2, following a resident’s complaint about odor and assumptions the septic system is not sufficient. The inspection found no signs of a faulty septic system or illegal discharge of wastewater.
“Staff reported that the site doesn’t appear to be causing any imminent public health or safety concerns,” a county spokesperson said by email.
Stanislaus County’s community services agency and shelter branch have been notified about the move-out order affecting the RV residents, some of whom say they have no other options.
Mark Galvan, senior landlord and tenant case manager for Project Sentinel, a fair housing agency, said that renters on a monthly contract should have 60 days to make new arrangements, if they have been there more than a year. Those renting space less than a year would have 30 days.
Galvan said tenants with health problems or disabilities can ask for a reasonable accommodation and protections under federal law, including time extensions.
After 30 days has elapsed, the landlord can file petitions in court to have tenants formally removed from the campground, a process that costs $500 to $600 per tenant, Galvan said.
Spears said a more incremental plan for moving the motorhome tenants is possible if the Municipal Advisory Council was told to take the pressure off. He said the property owner’s original plan was a more gradual move-out.
What’s next for River’s Edge residents?
Mendoza said the stress of cancer treatment is difficult enough. She said he has not given much thought to her next move.
Susz Lay, who worked as an advocate for people in HUD housing, knows some of her rights as a tenant.
She has called and called without finding a place to move her motorhome, she said, noting the better time to look is October to March. “I found one place in Angels Camp that is just an old piece of dirt for $700 a month,” she said.
Michael Johnson has what he calls a “weather rock”, a polished river stone set on a pedestal, that tells if the weather is bringing fog, clouds, rain or sunshine. It does not forecast his own future, however.
Formerly of Escalon, Jackie Gregory and her husband Russ downsized from a home for the RV lifestyle. Jackie said she’s been encouraged by supportive comments from townsfolk on a private Knights Ferry Facebook page. She hasn’t given up hope that at least some of the older renters can stay where they are.
“I would love for the people to be able to stay,” Gregory said. “If that does not work, I hope they can get an extra two or three months to save enough money and get a place to live.”
This story was originally published April 22, 2021 at 8:27 AM.
