Riverdale officials suspect arson in fire at mobile home park that’s to be redeveloped | News, Sports, Jobs

RIVERDALE — Authorities suspect arson in the fire that destroyed a unit at Lesley’s Mobile Home park in Riverdale, the focus of a redevelopment plan that has spurred moves to evict numerous residents in the complex.

At any rate, the fire — reported to authorities around 4 am Sunday — is still being investigated and officials aren’t saying much. Moves to redevelop the 4.62-acre plot where Lesley’s sits just off busy Riverdale Road have been a flashpoint, decried by residents who are being forced out to make way for the apartments or other housing units that would replace the mobile homes.

“Riverdale Fire Department suspects the fire is possibly an arson and is coordinating with the State Fire Marshal and the Riverdale Police Department to investigate the cause of the fire,” Casey Warren, assistant chief in the Riverdale Police Department, said in a statement. “The case is currently being investigated and further details will be released as they become available.”

The unit — No. 9, focus of an eviction order issued last week by 2nd District Court Judge Joseph Bean — was fully engulfed when firefighters arrived, but they were able to keep the blaze from spreading to other adjacent mobile homes. Nobody was living in the unit at the time and no one was injured. “Responding firefighters did a great job containing the fire and thankfully none of the neighboring residents were injured,” Warren said.

Riverdale police officials did not respond to a Standard-Examiner query Monday seeking additional comment. A rep from Salt Lake City-based Forza Development, helping spearhead efforts to redevelop Lesley’s land, praised the efforts of firefighters.

“The Riverdale Fire Department was all over it,” Chris Hatch, a Forza developer, said Monday. Firefighters from Roy, South Ogden, Ogden and South Weber assisted in the effort.

Hatch, however, declined comment on more general questions about moves to vacate Lesley’s ahead of redevelopment and the 2nd District Court eviction cases targeting some of the residents. All Lesley’s residents must be out by May 31 — many are already gone — but those facing eviction for nonpayment of rent and other transgressions are being forced out earlier.

According to 2nd District Court records, 18 tenants at Lesley’s are potentially facing court-ordered eviction. Lesley’s, sitting at 671 W. 4400 South in the shadow of the Riverdale Road bridge that hauls traffic over the Weber River, contains around 55 spaces in all.

The case involving the resident in unit 9, the one destroyed in Sunday’s fire, was filed on Dec. 6 by H&H 39th Street, owner of Lesley’s and working with Forza in the redevelopment plans. In court papers, H&H 39th Street charged the tenant with trespassing — not having a lease agreement to stay on Lesley’s grounds or having bought the mobile home unit without prior approval from Lesley’s reps.

In response, the resident said in her own filing that she had bought the unit for $26,000, all of her savings, and that park managers wouldn’t accept her payments to rent the space where the unit sits. She came to Riverdale from Nevada. “I ask if they can give me a contract month by month. He said no…,” reads the hand-written filing.

In Judge Bean’s Jan. 3 ruling, he ordered the residents of unit 9 to leave by the end of the day on Jan. 31. “If you fail to comply with this Order of Restitution on or before Jan. 31, 2023 at 11:59 pm, the sheriff or constable may, at the direction of the plaintiff, enter the premises by force using the least destructive means possible to remove you, your personal property and any persons claiming a right to occupancy from you ,” the order reads.

Tonya Miller, who left a unit across the street from unit 9 last week, said the tenants of that mobile home left about two weeks before she did. She wasn’t present when the fire occurred but described Lesley’s as an increasingly tense place.

Several pads are vacant, some strewn with belongings apparently left behind by departing tenants.

“There is a lot of anger. I’m very angry,” said Miller, now living in an Ogden apartment. She had security cameras affixed to the porch of her home to help her keep on top of potential intruders and others.

Jason Williams, still living in Lesley’s but trying to raise funds to move his mobile home, described a sense of impotence among residents. Witnesses reported hearing an explosion during Sunday’s fire, according to the Riverdale Police Department press release, but Williams slept through the blaze.

“It’s not a safe neighborhood. The managers don’t care about anything except getting us out of here. It’s pretty hopeless, really,” he said. Williams has been one of the more outspoken Lesley’s residents, advocating on behalf of mobile home park residents in various Riverdale City Council meetings on the rezone request that paved the way for the redevelopment plans.

Neither Forza nor H&H 39th Street representatives have publicly spelled out their redevelopment vision. The rezone approved last July by the Riverdale City Council allows for a mix of apartments, patio homes and townhomes.

Despite the jitters of Lesley’s residents, Riverdale officials have said the mobile home park has been a magnet for problems over the years. Redevelopment, they say, would create a safer, healthier environment.

Newsletter

Join thousands already receiving our daily newsletter.