County Sweeps Through El Rio to Check Out Code Violations

EL RIO —  Hoping to remove everything from garage dwellers to stray animals, authorities converged on El Rio on Tuesday morning in a far-reaching code enforcement sweep.

Officers lurched through this working-class community in a fleet of white vehicles, ordering residents to clean junk off their yards and turn down loud music.

California Highway Patrol officers pounced on unregistered cars, calling tow companies to haul them away.

And authorities targeted 17 garages illegally converted to extra sleeping quarters and living rooms.

“We’re here with the County of Ventura. I guess you’re a little sleepy, huh?” said building inspector Liz Cameron, rousting one garage dweller. “You might want to find other accommodations.”

The sweep, prompted by neighbor complaints, covered only the northwest corner of the 10-square-mile unincorporated community north of Oxnard. Future crackdowns are planned for county areas from Box Canyon to Silver Strand.

Although several garages were filthy--in one, a makeshift toilet had been constructed out of a five-gallon plastic bucket--officials said they have seen far worse.

In one case, they said, 60 farm workers were paying $85 a week to sleep on the dirt floor of a barn in El Rio.

But on Tuesday, inspectors--searching only for health, safety and nuisance violations--encountered no migrant workers. And none of the families they questioned appeared to be renting out their garages.

Rather, they simply wanted more space than their one-story homes could provide--for bedrooms or living rooms and, in one instance, an immaculate art studio.

“I’m an artist,” said 20-year-old Victor Medina, a Ventura College student and the son of celery pickers. He and his father turned the family garage into a drawing room, filling it with the son’s charcoal sketches and blue ribbons won in art contests.

“I’ve just wanted a place to kick back and do my work ever since I was small,” he said.

Activists said the sweep shows a problem all too common in a county with high rents and big mortgages.

“It’s families that found themselves in a home that’s too small,” said Francisco Dominguez, director of El Concilio del Condado de Ventura. “It’s an issue of a lack of affordable housing.”

Dominguez said code crackdowns are necessary to prevent tragedies, such as garage fires that trap people inside. But he said the county needs to do more for low-income families trying to improve their homes.

“There could be a way to reduce fees for people trying to do these things,” Dominguez said. “And just trying to figure out the bureaucracy, sometimes, can be difficult.”

Converting garages into living space is not illegal if rules are followed, officials said.

First, families need to add a carport to provide covered parking. The converted garages must also have adequate ventilation, doors, heating and safe electrical wiring.

Such changes require permits that cost an average of about $200 per conversion.

The El Rio families cited Tuesday had not taken the proper precautions, Cameron said. They have 30 days to fix the dwellings or tear them down.

“I just make sure the place is safe,” she said. “I don’t care if it’s a rich family or a poor family.”

Inspectors informed residents on how to apply for federal home improvement loans. But some said they felt singled out.

Alma Bottemiller appeared shocked as inspectors streamed through her garage, snapping pictures to document living conditions.

Half tool shed and half living room, the garage is a hangout for her children and their friends, said Bottemiller, 47. She said she needed some peace and quiet to watch her soap operas on television at night. So the family installed a wall and put couches in the garage.

When inspectors woke a man with a prosthetic leg, Bottemiller protested that she was just giving a friend a place to stay.

She urged: “He doesn’t work!”

“Why can’t people just sit in there?” asked Robin Carter, Bottemiller’s son-in-law. “I’ve relaxed out there. I don’t live out there. We go out there, sit back, listen to music and play dominoes. We’re not drinking or anything.”

Up the street, inspectors found a much more cluttered garage.

Inside, several rundown beds, couches and cardboard boxes filled with clothing were crammed together. Pictures of Mike Tyson and Jesus were stuck to the walls.

Behind a partition of tattered blankets, inspectors found the makeshift toilet. A woman inside the house refused to speak to inspectors.

After the sweep, officials said they were worried that it could damage the reputation of El Rio, a blue-collar community of 6,500 residents.

Catherine Serros-Myers, an aide to Supervisor John K. Flynn, said families have long complained to code officials. They wanted the county to clear away neighborhood eyesores and root out safety hazards.

“I think the quality of life out here is very good, but like every neighborhood, you have some problems,” Serros-Myers said.

Aside from cracking down on converted garages, authorities towed 20 abandoned or unregistered vehicles. One sedan had been used as a dumpster, stuffed to its roof with garbage bags.

The team also included several animal control officers, who caught an opossum scurrying through a yard.

County code officers are considering teaming up with state labor officials for another El Rio sweep this spring.

That is the time of year when garages fill up with field workers, said Mike Colmenero, an animal control officer who has lived in El Rio for nine years.

“In the summer, when the strawberry workers come in, you’ll see nine to 10 beds [per garage],” he said.