City requests delay in sale of Trails End Mobile Home Park

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Residents at Trails End were given a lifeline Thursday as the city of Fresno filed a request for a 30-day delay in the judgment over the sale of the mobile home park, following controversy over its ownership.

The judge in the case must approve the continuance request to make it official but residents were optimistic upon hearing the early news.

"I'm very hopeful -- they're giving us more time to hopefully work things out that we either buy the park or they. We would like to buy it and we would run it fairly," resident Patsy Rajskup said.

RELATED: Trails End mobile home residents sense city's abandonment coming

With the future of the Trails End Mobile Home Park in the balance, Fresno City Council President Nelson Esparza called for a special closed session meeting Thursday morning to discuss legal proceedings involving the park.

Councilmembers are asking for the delay to give them more time to investigate and collect resident feedback.

The Trails End Mobile Home Park saw the city take control of oversight last year after ongoing issues and two destructive fires, including one that left a man dead.

But now some residents are trying to stop the sale of the park to a new owner, which they're afraid will drastically increase rents.

"I've been here 32 years, I own my trailer and I like my space where I'm at and our community. I don't want to move, I can't afford to move," Rajskup said.

RELATED: No sale yet, trail not ended for north Fresno mobile home residents

The Receiver, which has filed an opposition to the city says the proposed owner, Harmony Communities, has done everything it promised to do during a transition of ownership.

The sale of the park was not approved recently by a judge but she did say no one can be evicted for now without approval from the courts.