Riverside County, Torres-Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians Develop Agreement on Oasis Mobile Home Park
January 31, 2023
RIVERSIDE – As families move out of Oasis Mobile Home Park into safer and better housing and living conditions, a new agreement aims to prevent new residents from moving into the unsafe and deplorable conditions that exist at the mobile home park.
RIVERSIDE – As families move out of Oasis Mobile Home Park into safer and better housing and living conditions, a new agreement aims to prevent new residents from moving into the unsafe and deplorable conditions that exist at the mobile home park.
The County of Riverside and the Torres-Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians have approved a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate on the health and safety issues at Oasis Mobile Home Park. The agreement respects Tribal sovereignty and establishes a mutual understanding on cooperative actions and intergovernmental measures the county can take on fee land that is in Tribal jurisdiction. The agreement also utilizes the county’s resources to address these health and safety concerns.
The Riverside County Board of Supervisors today voted 5-0 to approve the MOU. The MOU was approved by the Torres-Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians Tribal Council earlier in January.
Reaching this agreement has been a goal over the past half-year and even further, and is a major breakthrough for the county and the Torres-Martinez Tribe and all the many partners involved in responding to the issues at Oasis Mobile Home Park.
“This has been a long time coming,” said Supervisor V. Manuel Perez. “Thank you to County Counsel, folks from Housing and Workforce Solutions, I appreciate their work there as well, and the Torres-Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians.”
Riverside County, utilizing a $30 million grant of state funding secured in the California state budget by State Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia, is in the process of relocating residents from Oasis Mobile Home Park.
As residents move out of Oasis Mobile Home Park, the agreement will help limit new residents from moving into the vacated spaces. The county’s Code Enforcement Department and land-use departments will be authorized to remove and demolish abandoned mobile homes, cut off unauthorized or unlawful utilities, and place K-rails on empty sites. The county will coordinate with the Torres-Martinez Tribe on all enforcement activities.
The text of the MOU can be found on the Board of Supervisors agenda document, http://riversidecountyca.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_LegiFile.aspx?Frame=&MeetingID=2775&MediaPosition=3463.113&ID=21154&CssClass=
Given the habitability problems at Oasis Mobile Home Park, the county and the Torres-Martinez Tribe agree to work towards the eventual closure of the mobile home park within the next few years.
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Supervisor V. Manuel Perez represents the Fourth Supervisorial District on the Riverside County Board of Supervisors. The largest district in the county by geography, the 4th District covers eastern Riverside County, from Whitewater, stretching across the entire Coachella Valley south to the Salton Sea, up Highway 74 to Idyllwild and the mountain communities, and heading east of the Coachella Valley to Blythe and the Colorado River.
Supervisor Perez’s office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
