If I could give a rating based on location and neighbors I would give it 10 stars, we love it here!
Our home site is at the top of a steep cut slope which drops down 25' to 30' to ground level. Our escrow closed on 11/30/11. The lot is approximately 50' wide and the back yard is a wedge approx. 12' deep on the east side and 6' deep on the west side. The area is covered with a pattern of pavers about 8" X 16" each. The cut of the slope, behind our fence, is only about 3 feet on the east side of the lot and about 2 feet on the west side.
Shortly after COE, we noticed what we thought was gopher activity on the slope behind our property and that the pavers were moving downward. The manager told us the park was responsible for the slope and she would be up to look at it right away. That didn't happen then or any time since. Rain season came and the pavers were moving noticeably. The manager was out of the office until after the 1st of the year and on 01/03/12 we submitted a written request for action. A park maintenance worker installed one gopher trap and we heard no more about it. Joe inquired when he went in to pay February rent and the manager said she hadn't called us because she thought we would come to the office and, the owner said the hill was coming down because of the pavers and refused to take responsibility for the slope. The previous owner of our home installed the pavers years before and our "yard" had been fine until now. By this time the fence was also leaning. In March 2012 we saw critters that we thought might be squirrels. The manager said squirrels, gophers etc., are "an act of nature" and the owner was not responsible and would not do anything about it. On 04/03/12 we presented another written plea for re-consideration of the property owners' position. No response was given. The bank looked like Swiss cheese at this point and the fence was leaning more, the cement that the fence poles are anchored in is sticking up above ground level.
6/18/12 I observed a critter sitting in a hole along the fence line having it's breakfast and determined that it must be a vole (vector control later confirmed it probably was a vole). On 06/14/12 we received our copy of the park rental agreement and as per park requirement, on 06/19/12 we sent a registered letter to Parklane. They took no action. On 07/09/12 Patty Dietrich of Parklane, said she would instruct the manager to come and inspect the situation on our lot but she never came. On 07/12/12 Patty Dietrich instructed us to deal with Shirley Garettson, the park manager, she has authority to speak for the owner. The park did employ Western Pest Control to put bait out for the voles but did nothing about the gophers. On 07/17/12 I called Patty at Parklane again because no one had been here to see about the damage and there was new gopher activity, she told me to call the manager, I went to the office and Shirley said she was hoping "Eugene" would be here that day or the next and she would send him to to look at it. No one showed up.
08/09/12 we submitted a request to install a hardware cloth underground fence. The manager called and gave verbal permission on 08/09/12 and my son did the labor.
By March/April of 2013 it was apparent that the hardware cloth barrier was a failure. The gophers were under our shed and had several boroughs down the strip between our driveway and the driveway next door.
In June of 2013 I spoke again with the manager and she agreed to put sonic repellents along the fence and to purchase poison and an applicator for the gophers and have the maintenance people apply it in the gopher holes. I agreed to purchase the same equipment to use on our lot and as far over the fence as I can reach. No sign of applicator or poison for park property gophers and when I spoke with manager on 12/16/13 to find out why, she said she didn't know anything about it and didn't remember the conversation. I let her know that I had discovered the Department of Housing and Community Development through the GSMOL newsletter and that if the owner was not going to re-consider his position we would be filing a complaint. She called and asked me to hold off because she was calling Western Pest Control again and they were to take care of voles and gophers. The bait is out for the voles but there is nothing being done about the gophers and there is new activity all the time.
This has been ongoing for 2 years, I've called city, county and state offices and no one covers this problem, turns out that HCD will make a park owner keep the pool clean but our property damage is a civil matter so there is no code enforcement. Mrs. Katie Robinson inherited the park from her father and up until then the bank had been maintained but since he died weeds, gophers and trees haven't been touched. My advice to anyone who wants to live here is: make sure you are in a flat area because you will get tangled up in attorney fees to get this owner to do the right thing. read more
