Residents of Li’l Abner Mobile Home Park gathered in a protest to demand more safety and security, saying squatters are targeting their neighborhood, and days after a fire ripped through an abandoned home. NBC6’s Lorena Inclan reports
Demolition began Thursday at a Sweetwater mobile home park where hundreds were forced to move to make way for new housing.
Li’l Abner Mobile Home Park on Northwest 2nd Terrace is where more than 900 residents first received eviction notices last November, learning they'd have until May 19 to move out.
Watch NBC6 free wherever you are
WATCH HEREThe owner of the park, CREI Holdings, is planning to build brand new housing on the site, and has offered residents some incentives for moving out ahead of the deadline.
Video shared on Friday by a resident shows a construction vehicle pushing around the remnants of what appears to be a demolished trailer.
Get local news you need to know to start your day with NBC 6's News Headlines newsletter.
SIGN UP
"They started at 7 in the morning," one woman said in Spanish.
In another video, neighbors speak animatedly to police, who appear to try to calm them down. The woman recording claims that the remaining residents are being forced to leave.
Local
According to the spokesperson for the city of Sweetwater, Alvaro Zabaleta, the park's management received permits from the Department of Environmental Resources Management on Wednesday that allowed them to start removing abandoned trailers. He confirmed they started the process on Thursday.
"We are committed to the continued safety of our community and began permitted demolition of vacated mobile homes today following the protocol required by the County. Demolition and clean up will continue until the park is clear," the manager of the park, the Urban Group, said in a statement Thursday.
The president of the Urban Group said in another statement said they have mostly tried to accommodate residents who have returned to retrieve personal items after leaving their unit.
"When a former resident abandons a unit, the items left behind are abandoned with it. Some residents have come to us to retrieve personal items left behind immediately following the abandonment of a unit, which we have mostly tried to accommodate," Matt Rosenbaum said. "We are not aware of any former residents attempting to access a trailer today and having access blocked."
The demolition comes after a fire at the mobile home park on Sunday sparked a new round of fighting between the remaining residents and the property managers. Neighbors claim the property has been neglected since they announced evictions.
“There’s no maintenance happening here. As you can see there’s garbage on the streets. There’s abandoned places. The places aren’t secured,” said attorney David Winker, who is representing 250 families in a class action lawsuit. “We don’t know what’s happened, obviously we will find out from the fire department, but we suspect it was squatters inside.”
