Residents are furious after at least two dozen illegal camper vans parked on their suburban California street have been oozing human feces and urine onto their property, making them sick.
The campsite, located on private property in Sylmar, California, is managed by Cruz Godoy – dubbed ‘Vanlord’ by locals – who rents out the RVs to individuals without alternative housing options, making up to $20,000 a month.
After years of complaints from irate residents calling for officials to intervene, authorities have finally attempted to shut down the setup which lacks the necessary permits and proper facilities to function legally.
The encampment in Sylmar is similar to others which have sprung up across the Democrat-run state as desperate South American families seek cheap places to live while they work in cities such as Los Angeles and Palo Alto.
Maria Macias, whose backyard faces Cruz’s lot expressed sympathy for the people living in the RVs but decried the unbearable stench emanating from the illegal campers that has plagued residents for years, making life ‘unbearable.’
Residents are furious after at least two dozen illegal camper vans parked on their suburban California street have been oozing human feces and urine onto their property, making life ‘unbearable’
The campsite, located on private property in Sylmar, California, is managed by ‘vanlord’ Cruz Godoy (pictured) who rents out the RVs to individuals without alternative housing options, making up to $20k a month
Many of the RV residents, who neighbors say are mainly South American immigrants searching for a better life, are forced to dump their sewage in the streets
‘I don’t have peace, not even in my own house,’ she told CBS. ‘My son got sick, all of us got nauseous the ambulance came because my son was vomiting at night.’
Many of the RV residents, who neighbors say are mainly South American immigrants searching for a better life, are forced to dump their sewage in the streets.
Macias said the RVS have had a distressing impact on her and her neighbors’ health, as they believe the unhygienic conditions have contributed to recent illnesses.
The use of potent chemicals during early morning cleaning efforts to mitigate the odor has also raised concerns about potential health risks.
‘It’s been so stressful,’ Macias told The New York Post in tears. ‘I just wish someone could help. We have all gotten sick because of all the feces is everywhere. And then we see them trying to clean early in the morning with really strong chemicals to get rid of the smell, but we don’t know what’s in the chemicals.’
Neighbors say the campsite is also a fire hazard and an eye soar, according to CBS.
Amid California’s 100 degree heatwave on Tuesday, the Los Angeles Police Department officers and officials from the city’s Department of Water and Power disconnected the camp’s electricity.
The use of potent chemicals during early morning cleaning efforts to mitigate the odor has raised concerns about potential health risks
Maria Macias, whose backyard faces Cruz’s lot expressed sympathy for the people living in the RVs but decried the unbearable stench emanating from the illegal campers that has plagued residents for years
Curt Cabrera-Miller, Sylmar Neighborhood Council President said the electricity had to be shut off as a safety precaution due to the heat and ‘potential for sparks, electrical damage, propane tanks, and proximity of the RVs, we have to avoid any explosions and traumas we can’
Curt Cabrera-Miller, Sylmar Neighborhood Council President said the electricity had to be shut off as a safety precaution due to the heatwave.
‘With this heat and potential for sparks, electrical damage, propane tanks, and proximity of the RVs, we have to avoid any explosions and traumas we can,’ Miller said to CBS.
The LA City Attorney’s Office has now also intervened, filing criminal charges against Godoy for not complying with building and safety codes, including lacking the necessary permits and proper facilities.
Neighbors last week begged the local city council to take action and included over 100 signatures to present to San Fernando and Los Angeles officials, according to the New York Post.
After two weeks of silence, Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez has finally responded to the biohazardous RV campsite.
Rodriguez said in a statement: ‘The City family continues to work with great urgency to mitigate the impacts for both the individuals living on the property and neighboring residents.’
The LA City Attorney’s Office has filed criminal charges against Godoy for not complying with building and safety codes, including lacking the necessary permits and proper facilities, Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez (pictured)
After two weeks of silence, Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez has finally responded to the biohazardous RV campsite with a statement
‘As previously shared, we are working with all resources at our disposal to address the public health and safety concerns and place those residing in the RVs with emergency shelters,’ she continued.
‘The conditions on this private property is an exploitation of vulnerable people seeking housing, and I’m hopeful that the City Attorney will be successful in representing this case in court tomorrow.’
Godoy is scheduled to appear in a Los Angeles court on Wednesday.
The move comes as a response to the long-standing source of distress for local residents and aims to address the lack of compliance with regulations.
Miller said Cruz has been cited several times over the past decade by the LA Department of Building and Safety.
‘As far as I know, the first case that I saw was filed in 2010 and a lien was put on the property in 2016 on that case,’ Miller told the Post.
‘Since then there has been 41 violations — open and closed cases of building and safety violations. It’s been an ongoing thing. She fixes one thing, and then something else happens,’ he added.
Neighbors said many of the RV residents are South American immigrants looking for a better life.
There are at least 27 RVs and 50 formerly homeless residents living on the lot, including children living on the lot who will now be displaced.
Neighbors last week begged the local city council to take action and included over 100 signatures to present to San Fernando and Los Angeles officials
The people who are renting campers are paying anywhere from $300 to $1,000 per month, with the landlord making up to $20k a month, according to Miller.
Hector Rivera, who lives nearby has claimed the Godoy not only rents out RVs but also garages and sheds, according to the Post.
‘The smell is so bad, the flies … and there are unsavory people running around the neighborhood,’ Rivera said to the Post. ‘People have been sick and we think it might be the fumes (from the house).’
Another neighbor, Carmen Cisneros, who has lived in the area for the last 30 years, has said the stench permeates her home and neighborhood, even with her chain-linked fence separating her property from Godoy.
‘The feces and urine runs down the street and the smell is unbelievable,’ Cisneros told the Post. ‘Cruz used to have a shop at the swap meet, but when that shut down during the pandemic, she brought it to her house. Then I started seeing RVs about three years ago.
‘At first I saw three and all of a sudden both sides (of the property) became full. I didn’t care so much at first as longs as they stayed on their side, but then the wind would blow the smell over.’
The move comes as a response to the long-standing source of distress for local residents and aims to address the lack of compliance with regulations
Others have said their family members have contracted mysterious illnesses since the illegal RVs.
‘My husband has been sick for three years and the doctors just can’t figure it out,’ one neighbor told the Post.
‘We used to call it the ‘Big House’ with the previous owners. It was gorgeous. Then right before COVID, this started — the smell. It’s awful. When you drive down sometimes you see liquid and you gotta figure, ‘Where is this coming from?”
But many also expressed sympathy toward the families who are stuck without electricity and being pushed out of their homes.
Manny Femat used to live in one of the RVs and still visits Godoy, who he claims is a ‘great person,’ to clean the property.
‘There’s a child living there who is handicapped,’ Femat told The Post. ‘It’s not right! They didn’t have to do that. If anything happens to that child … God bless America!’
Femat, who paid Godoy $500 when he rented an RV, said she should be rewarded for helping the homeless.
‘I was living in my car and she gave me a place to live in,’ Femat told the Post. ‘She’s a great person and she doesn’t deserve to be treated this way. She’s not making millions. She deserves an award, if anything.’
PALO ALTO: A line of RVs is parked near the entrance to Stanford University along El Camino Real, which has long been a popular spot for people living in mobile homes in March 2019
LOS ANGELES: The city’s iconic palm trees and distant mountains form the backdrop for a string of camper vans on the streets of the West Rancho Dominguez/Compton area of the City of Angels in March 2019
Above, a map that shows where RVs in Palo Alto were lining up in 2019 along El Camino Real, near the entrance to Stanford University
