LAWTON — Lawton is taking the owner of the Aloha Trailer Park to court in hopes of compelling her to correct problems at the trailer park.
The Lawton City Council directed the city attorney on Tuesday to declare the trailer park at Southwest 20th and D Avenue a public nuisance and file a nuisance abatement lawsuit against the owner, Jo Ann Porter, in Comanche County District Court. A lawsuit would compel Porter to either fix the problems at the trailer park or allow the city to seize the property.
The city has issued more than 20 citations exceeding $3,000 over the past several months to Porter, said City Attorney John Ratliff. He added that Porter, who has owned the trailer park since 1965, has been operating without a valid city permit for the past three years.
“In addition to that, we’ve summarily abated the property twice, and that price tag exceeds a thousand dollars,” Ratliff said. “There’s been an individual that’s essentially squatting on the property, and Miss Porter is either unable or unwilling to evict this guy.”
Ratliff said that Porter recently brought an eviction action against the vagrant squatting on the property, who left the trailer park and later returned. The attorney added that the vagrant has threatened people with a knife and caused other problems.
“Unfortunately, we’ve just gotten to the point where we need a little bit bigger hammer than just continuing to cite the same individual, because it’s not having the effect of addressing the nuisance,” Ratliff said. “Which, in this case, is excessive trash and debris on the property.”
City Manager Michael Cleghorn said when the city deals with a subject like this, officials prefer to take the least intrusive approach and adopt the least punitive measures possible.
“We walk that walk as far as we can take it, and we’re not getting the results, as John mentioned, that we need to get,” he said. “So, this is where we are. We’re at the point where we’ve got to take a little more aggressive action.”
Councilman Allan Hampton represents Ward 5, where the trailer park is located. He said he has fielded several complaints from people who live next to the property.
“It’s a terrible, terrible situation that is there,” he said.
Porter said she has mowed grass and picked up trash at the trailer park four or five times, but it hasn’t done any good. She added that she has tried to remove the man who is causing problems but was unsuccessful.
“So, all I know is, I went down, had him evicted,” Porter said. “And so far, all I’ve had is he’s cussing me out.”