Recently, homeowners located near Yosemite National Park received notification that they were being forced to move from the area. Furthermore, these evictions came without any compensation to the residents of the mobile home park. Now, National Park Service officials have noted some of the plans they have for the Yosemite property.
The initial notice of eviction came to the homeowners in the El Portal Trailer Park in December 2021. The notice states that the residents of the El Portal Trailer Park must vacate their properties by March 13. Now, that date has come and gone. With National Park Service officials only recently beginning to reveal the plans for the area.
The National Park Service Says Future Plans For Yosemite Mobile Home Community Site Are Still In the Works
Park officials note that future plans for the area from which homeowners have been evicted earlier this month include turning the site into a campground. However, these plans won’t be put into action anytime soon, park officials add.
The biggest issue regarding the El Portal Trailer Park is an issue much more urgent than developing a campground, the National Park Service notes. The main driver for the immediate timeline behind the trailer park closer, the National Park Service says, is related to safety concerns.
“The immediate concern and driver of the timeline for the closure of the area to residential use was the risk of fire and the threat to human life,” says Denise Adamic, a regional spokesperson for the National Park Service. Additionally, one spokesperson from Yosemite National Park, Scott Gediman, notes that in 2022 the mobile home community site and the surrounding areas will become a sort of staging area for major projects in Yosemite National Park. These areas will also house equipment and camping for construction workers, Gediman adds.
National Park Officials Have Stated That Campground Construction Could Begin In 2024
Officials note that plans to turn the mobile home park into a campground are not on the immediate docket. However, according to the Fresno Bee, Yosemite Superintendent Cicely Muldoon notes in an October letter to the trailer park residents that the site is will soon become a public and administrative-use campground. Construction on this project, which will be dedicated to recreational vehicles, is slated to begin in 2024.
Homeowners Struggle With Evictions From Yosemite Property
Many of the residents in the area actually own their own homes in the trailer park. However, they lease the land on which they live from the park. Even though many residents lease the land on which their trailers sit, many of them have lived on the property for decades.
One of these residents is Luke Harbin’s mother. She has lived on the property for nearly four decades while working at the National park.
“We’re all stressed. I see my mom cry every single day. It’s not right,” Harbin tells the Fresno Bee.
