Residents in a ‘twilight zone of discomfort’

Lauren Vane

Dirty tire tracks, an old washing machine and a pile of debris are

all that’s left on the site where mobile home number five once stood

inside the El Morro Village trailer park. Through the filthy windows

of a now-vacant trailer nearby, a spectacular ocean view and a

glimpse of Catalina Island stretches out.

A group of residents signed an agreement to leave by April 1, and

the trailer park has since been marked with holes in the landscape

where homes have been pulled off their foundation and taken

elsewhere. Many residents have elected to stay and wait out a court

decision, but some residents have packed up for good, leaving an

eerie feeling in pockets of El Morro Village.

Residents are reluctant to talk to reporters and share their side

of the story. Whether advised by lawyers or the management company,

few tenants are talking. One resident, who did not give his name and

did not want to talk to the newspaper, ordered a reporter and

photographer off the premises, using profanity as he cited unfair

media coverage. He said that it “wasn’t personal.”

“Right now, residents are in limbo,” said another resident, Jeff

Brooks. “Nobody’s comfortable with it. It is a twilight zone of

discomfort.”

Michael Spencer Taylor, the most recent to take up residency in El

Morro, said he is just enjoying his time here until the court takes

action -- either overturning or upholding an eviction notice by the

state. Taylor lives in El Morro with his son and spends time surfing.

“It’s a beautiful place,” Taylor said. “I’m just going to stay

here as long as I can.”

A drive up onto the terrace level of the trailer park reveals a

stunning view of expansive blue ocean and the canyon hillside. Here,

several vacant trailers in each row are stamped with an industrial

“No Trespassing” sign that exudes emptiness. Some residents are seen

packing up their belongings into cars, but they, too, decline

comment.

The silence of the El Morro residents is the silence that

permeates a neighborhood that was once full of people. There are

still over 200 residents remaining, but somehow the absence of a few

has spread like a fog over the entire community.