GREENER PASTURE
Some residents celebrate home destruction
BY LEWIS WHITTEN

About a year ago as the Las Vegas Health District condemned Sky Vue Trailer Park, local politicians began complaining about the poor condition of local trailer parks. So when investors began buying up trailer parks intending to replace them with luxurious condominiums and office buildings, you'd think the politicians would be ecstatic!

Not so.

Now they're concerned that poor, disabled and elderly trailer park residents will have no place to go. Investors anxious to spruce up the Las Vegas skyline might have to put their plans on hold. Clark County Commissioners are debating a proposal to place an 18-month moratorium on the conversion of trailer parks to high-rise condominiums or anything else.

Commissioner Bruce Woodbury is concerned about residents losing their homes and has suggested that the closure of more trailer parks is a grim situation that needs "strong medicine." 

Meanwhile, dozens of small Las Vegas businesses are faced with the same grim predicament. Developers are now setting their sights on industrial parks west of The Strip. Already on the chopping block is a complex just north of the Gold Coast Hotel. Business owner Mike Martinez points out that quite a few shops have already been vacated.

"They've kicked a few people out for painting without a spray booth or spilling oil," Martinez said. "The others are just going to have to leave when it's time to tear down the buildings."

Martinez has suggested he will retire; other businesses will relocate. These entrepreneurs who have contributed so much to the community are planning a graceful exit.

Trailer park residents on the other hand are putting up a fight, arguing that there is no place for them to go. Some are demanding that the government should provide them with a place to live. 

The opposite is going on at a decades-old condominium complex behind Sunrise Hospital. Those residents, who could easily wear the poor, disabled and elderly label, are celebrating the prospect of having their homes torn down.

The developer there has offered to pay moving costs and help residents find a better place to live. More than 90 percent of the homeowners there have voiced their approval and are anxious to move on to greener pastures.

"Everything here leaks, the roofs, the plumbing, even our coin operated washing machines leak," one resident offered. "I can't wait to have my own washing machine!" LW