Firm plans to appeal

Andrew Edwards

A lawyer for the management company of El Morro Village mobile-home

park said Monday that he plans to appeal last week’s court ruling

against his client.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Kim Dunning issued an oral

summary judgment Thursday in favor of the California State Parks

Department. The department is trying to evict residents and the

management company, El Morro Village Inc., so it can replace the

mobile-home park with a public campground. El Morro Village is part

of Crystal Cove State Park.

In the view of Richard Rozzelle, acting superintendent for the

parks department’s Orange Coast District, the ruling marks a legal

affirmation of the agency’s attempt to clear away trailers for a

state park and a campground.

“It just confirms what we’ve believed all along, that we had a

right to take over the trailer park,” Rozzelle said.

The ruling does not directly affect El Morro residents, Deputy

Atty. General Terry Fujimoto said. The decision allows the parks

department to evict El Morro Village Inc. from the mobile-home park’s

management office.

Gerald Klein, an attorney representing the management company and

a number of mobile-home residents, said he plans to appeal the ruling

but will not pursue other legal options to prevent the eviction.

The case was set to go to trial Aug. 23, and both sides requested

a summary judgment Thursday. In a summary judgment, a judge makes a

decision on a matter of law, and Dunning’s decision focused on

whether the parks department could evict the management company

simply on the basis of the expiration of the company’s lease.

California law is designed to protect mobile-home owners from

evictions because of the potential high costs of moving one’s home.

In most cases, the law does not allow a landlord to refuse to renew a

lease.

The judge’s decision, attorney Klein said, means the judge

believes the parks department is exempt from that rule.

“We simply disagree, and we’re appealing,” Klein said.

Before Klein can file for appeal, he has to wait for Dunning’s

ruling to be put in writing, he said.

The appeal process could be a yearlong effort. Even if the park’s

management building is demolished, El Morro Village Inc. can still

seek monetary damages through appeal.

The sides also disagree on whether the law required the parks

department to produce an analysis, similar to an environmental

report, on how residents and the surrounding community would be

affected by the planned closure of the park, Klein said.

Though the parks department’s plans to build a campground at El

Morro are public knowledge, Klein said the report is more than a

technicality.

“To say this is a technicality is to say the unlawful detainer

process is a technicality and the marshals should just be allowed to

throw them [the residents] out,” he said.

Klein said no court date has been set.