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Item IV <br />• Lot score: This measured the reported neatness of lots. <br />• Parking Score: this measure asked if there was an adequate supply of parking spaces, and <br />enough room in each space, to accommodate the needs of residents. <br />• Turnaround score: gave 1 point to any park that had enough room for emergency vehicles to <br />turn around within the park. This is a safety measure. <br />• Road score: rewarded parks with well maintained roads. Asphalt is preferred to gravel. Gravel <br />is preferred over dirt. <br />• Landscaping: surveyors noted the degree of maintenance given to trees, yards, and open areas. <br />Observations <br />A high percentage of residents live in the worst mobile home parks. There are 288 occupied mobile <br />home pars in t ttom quintile of mobile home parks in the coun . The v cancy r in these <br />communities is almost percent. Even worse, however, is that more han 16 p ce of t e units in <br />these com es are a andoned. This is more than % of the County' aban oned obile omes are <br />located in t ese 2 parks. r----] /`� <br />The best pa ks are (ready of g well i the mare ce. he top tier f mob le hom parks in Orange <br />Cou ty are ome t 1010 ou eholds In these s, the vacanc rat is onl 1.7 p rcent. There are <br />just 5 aban oned obile h me in the entire g up of co muni ies. <br />The e are not enough vailabl mobi a homes to serve theA mark t. T =iere e o nly 3 vacant obile <br />ho a County. T ' er than th er on le homes. home <br />park owners have a lot of control over the tenure of residents. There are few consumer protections and <br />evictions can happen overnight. The shortage of available units enhances the inequality between <br />owners and residents. <br />While some parks have added some amenities, substantial infrastructure investment is rarely found. The <br />best parks have common areas, playgrounds, and even pools. Few have sidewalks or overhead street <br />lamps. Very few have power lines underground. Very few have sewer access. It seems that the market <br />is willing to provide some enhancement above and beyond the minimum. Nevertheless, park owners do <br />not see the opportunity for cash flows to support independent infrastructure investment. <br />Many parks have odd features: some have loose chickens. There are more than a few with loose dogs. <br />Immediate problems <br />There are more than a few parks that are either very poor or in need of immediate enforcement action <br />by the County. As noted earlier, these parks have higher vacancy rates and many abandoned mobile <br />homes. These parks are probably not the right places for public investment. It is usually not cost - <br />effective to make up for the lack of maintenance by the previous owner. The following list describes a <br />few of these communities: <br />0 <br />