Cudahy : Ordinance Amended to Save 4 Residential Trailer Parks

An ordinance that would have forced the closure of four trailer parks, leaving about 200 residents without homes, has been struck down by the City Council.

The council Monday unanimously voted to amend a 25-year-old law that called for the removal of residential trailers from the city’s industrial zone by August, 1991. The four trailer parks will remain open but owners will be required to obtain permits that give the city power to enforce zoning codes as well as state health and safety laws. The other 11 trailer parks in town must also obtain permits, City Manager Jack Joseph said. Should any trailer park owner fail to correct problems, the city could begin working to shut down the park, Joseph said.

At the time the original law was passed, city leaders reasoned that an industrial area was no place for people to settle, and said that the land could be put to better, more profitable use.

As the deadline approached, however, the City Council said it did not want to kick residents out of the trailer parks. If the city had enforced the ordinance, it would have had to pay relocation costs for all tenants, an estimated million-dollar bill that would have sunk the city into debt.