August 29, 2005
Archives
WE ,THE PEOPLE...
Dear Editor, (Oakland Tribune & San Mateo County Times)
Seldom have I seen such a cheap shot fired at a group of citizens who's crime appears to be having a long term site at Lake Berryessa. Your paper's headline reads "Is this your lake, or mine?". What behavior on the part of any of the 1250 families could possibly lead you to believe we think we own the lake? The answer to your question, however, is a resounding "we, the people - it belongs to us" and the last time I checked, we, the permittees, were included.
Let's make this situation very clear. Lake Berryessa is primarily a boating lake, very large, very under utilized, and very capable of serving every form of recreation - just not all on holiday weekends. Long term sites occupy 3.75% of the shoreline at the lake. That hardly constitutes denying the public access to the lake. There are seven resorts on the lake which are not , nor do they appear to be, gated mobile home parks - contrary to your reporter's story. They are year around full service facilities that provide camping, RV sites, cabins, motels, stores, rental boats, launch ramps, gas docks, snack shops and restaurants.
There is also lake access provided free by the BOR at Oak Shores and Smittle Creek, along with many turnouts (some expanded) adjacent to the roads. In addition a huge area that once housed the Boy Scout Camp could be made available for use and be operated by a current concessionaire on an as-needed basis, subject to BOR approval. There are 58 miles of shoreline available to the Bureau of Reclamation for development, but they can neither fund it nor operate it. But the options are numerous and are fully explored in the Resort Owners Plan, a detailed project proposed to the BOR in April, 2005. It calls for a complete revitalization of six of the resorts at a cost of $45 millions dollars over a seven year period and focuses primarily on expanding short term use. Your reporter would be welcome to a copy.
Four and a half years of this DEIS/VSP process have been wasted. Instead of bringing all the stakeholders; the Bureau of Reclamation, the resort owners, the permittees, the community, local business owners, the environmentalists and the lake users together to work toward the best possible solution, we are fighting it out in the media. The misrepresentations that have been made by the parties involved have done irreparable harm to the resorts and their ability to provide service to their customers.
There should be no more headlines or comments disparaging the mobile home owners. Please remember, unless the rules are changed in 2008/2009, they are still legal residents according to the Bureau of Reclamation and entitled to a measure of respect.
Pat Monaghan
Chair, Task Force 7 at Lake Berryessa
Yountville, California
707-944-8286
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On 8/29/05, vamador@comcast wrote:
Dear Mr. Iwama, (General Counsel, CWP)
Are you aware of any class action suits against Steve Petty and the BOR at this time? We put in a new mobile home just 2 years ago at Pleasure Cove Resort and were told by Patty Goodwin at the BOR when we were waiting for the approval on our deck plans (that were submitted at the same time as the mobile home), that we were lucky to get our trailer approved because Mr. Petty was already in default and they shouldn't have approved it. She also said that he should have told us this before we signed our lease. He disclosed nothing to us other than he was the consessionaire and he paid cash in court to settle it with Mr. Deloose. We still have our contract stating we had until April 2009 and Mr. Petty even said that as long as he shows the BOR how improved Pleasure Cove is becoming our 2009 lease will probably be extended.
We were willing to gamble as long as we had until 2009, not for 2 years spending $90,000.00. After continuous direct lies from Mr. Petty, regarding so many issues, we unknowinglly at the time believed him and paid the previous person $15,000 for their old trailer, put a new approx $55,000 trailer and $16,000 trek deck on. Had the BOR never approved the trailer like they said they shouldn't have, and Mr. Petty been honest about what was going on before we signed our lease, we would not be losing $90,000.00. Many at Pleasure Cove are saying their trailers are so old they aren't worth moving but ours is a 16 x 58 3 bedroom 2 bath with many upgrades, that still smells new. We have checked our options everywhere and there aren't any.
We are sure there are many in our same situation that feel betrayed by him. We are still trying to get back our dock fees he made us pay in advance knowing he was going down. We've heard that Forever Resorts may have to pay Steve Petty back for his home but the honest people like us have to pay approximately $7,000.00 to haul our home off the property and have to find a way to sell it. If they have to buys his, they should have to buy the rest.
It is amazing how the BOR made us wait about a year to build a deck even after we told them numerous times that our trailer wasn't safe because people were jumping out of 2 sliding doors to the ground to get out. They kept telling us to blame Steve Petty, he knows what he needs to do before we let you build your deck. We told them that we no longer wanted to be responsible for someone getting hurt and they still took months to approve it. Now I hear they are sending letters out for violations like the one they made us live with for a year.
Can you lead us in the proper direction? We know your hands are quite full now. Thanks also for all your hard work on this case and let us know if there is any way we can help.
Take Care,
Rick & Valerie Amador
925-938-5476
Dear Rick & Valerie:
Thank you for your e-mail expressing your honest frustrations with the situation at Pleasure Cove Resort/Marina.
I know you have legitimate issues with Steve Petty in the way he mislead you and others to expend substantial time, effort and monies to purchase a new mobile home and make improvements at your Pleasure Cove site. Besides Steve Petty, it is my legal opinion that the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) is the real culprit behind the movement to eliminate all long-term permittees at Pleasure Cove by November 1, 2005.
At the request of Oscar Braun, a long-term permittee and the owner of two units at Pleasure Cove, several months ago (since March of this year), I began the process of researching and reviewing the overall situation at Pleasure Cove. The letter to Pete Lucero, Park Manager at Lake Berryessa, is only the tip of the legal morass at Pleasure Cove. (See attached letter).
I have been requested by Oscar Braun and other private stakeholders at Pleasure Cove to initiate appropriate legal review, which may include an action by a representative class of long-term permittees against BOR and others to seek immediate legal redress to stop BOR's mandated November 1, 2005 deadline for the removal of personal property at Pleasure Cove. Please understand that the concessionaires (formerly Petty and now Forever Resorts) are instrumental in carrying out BOR's mandated order, which I consider is illegal and violates the law.
I will be meeting this week with Oscar Braun to discuss details and strategy regarding the Pleasure Cove matter. It is my recommendation that long-term permittees such as yourselves take the following immediate actions: 1. do not sign the proposed site rental agreement submitted by Pleasure Cove Marina, LLC (Forever Resorts), and 2. withhold the payment of any rents until there is clarification regarding the BOR/concessionaire situation at Pleasure Cove.
It is my opinion that the long-term permittees at Pleasure Cove will be better served if they stay together as a close-knit group and pool limited resources to fight BOR and the concessionaires. Time is extremely important in this matter as November 1 is only 64 days away.
I will keep you informed as to developments in this matter. Thank you for taking the time to write your thoughtful e-mail. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. Best regards.
Frank A. Iwama, CWP General Counsel
Tel: (650) 591-6200
E-mail: frankiwama@gmail.com