Residents of Shantytown Looking for New Homes : Dispute: About 40 people say they are being forced to leave the migrant camp called Porterville because of a land feud.

Caught in the middle of a protracted land dispute between their landlord and neighboring homeowners, the 40 or so people living in a migrant camp known as Porterville said Monday they are seeking homes elsewhere.

Jorge Luis Ocampo, spokesman for the shantytown community, said the tenants have received a 15-day notice from landlord Sam Porter and “everyone here is looking for a place out there, and some are already moving out.”

On Friday, the Trabuco Highlands Community Assn., court order in hand, locked a gate that seals off Porterville from its only access road.

On Monday, the only way for the tenants to get out of the camp was either by walking more than a mile along a dry creek bed or through the gate--but only if they had all their belongings packed in their vehicles, never to be let back in again, Porter said.

Back in July, 1992, Porter and the William Lyon Co., developer of the Trabuco Highlands subdivision, signed an agreement that gave the homeowners association the right to build the gate at the entrance to Porterville, which lies at the foot of the Saddleback Mountains.

The agreement allowed Porter and his immediate family to have keys to the gate, and Porter was allowed to have guests in his 233-acre ranch for up to seven days, said homeowners association spokesman Don Chadd.

However, said Chadd, the agreement did not contemplate the use of the gate by Porter’s tenants, who pay about $50 a month each to live in dilapidated trailers, campers and cabins. Chadd said the traffic and noise generated by the tenants in the streets of Trabuco Highlands forced the association to take a tough stand.

“We had an obligation to the people we represent to find a solution to the problem,” Chadd said.

Porter on Monday alleged the entire matter stems from racism. He said his tenants are allowed to work in nurseries nearby but not to live next to those they work for.

The association’s “views and determinations are racially motivated,” he said. “These people are being victimized and exploited. If anyone ever asks if racism exists in Orange County, let them look to Porterville.”

But Chadd said nothing could be further from the truth. Porter, he said, was “grasping at straws” and not taking responsibility for his own actions. He said Porter created the problem by disobeying county zoning and health regulations.

The county has tried to dismantle Porterville over the years, citing numerous fire, safety and health code violations.

The situation, Chadd said, “is unfortunate but unavoidable. My heart goes out to these people.”

Said Ocampo, the shantytown spokesman: “The only way out is to get out of here, so we’re out of here.”