Trailer park must clean up act

PHOTOGRAPHER: Edward Munger Jr.

The owner of the Pattersonville Trailer Park is pressuring some of its residents to get started with spring cleanup following a complaint lodged with the town’s zoning officer.

Town zoning and code enforcement officer Paul F. Slansky met with property owner Ahmed Shah last week to identify several lots that need some work at the mobile home park off Route 5S east of Amsterdam. Trash and unused items were starting to accumulate alongside some of the lots and some of the mobile homes themselves require fixing.

Town Supervisor William Strevy said it’s the first time in his seven years as supervisor that he heard of a complaint about the mobile home park.

“We’re just coming out of the winter; some people are not really eager to start working,” Shah said Thursday.

He said he accompanied Slansky for a walk-through last weekend and pinpointed lots that require attention.

“We identified tenants that need to be pushed a little more, and those things are being done,” he said.

Slansky said he believes the walk-through was productive.

“For the most part the tenants were cooperative; they said they’d try to get it cleaned up,” Slansky said.

He said he tries to work with residents and property owners instead of issuing tickets and establishing a bad relationship.

“Some people have financial problems or they have different issues. We try to work with them, and for the most part we always get it accomplished,” Slansky said.

“We live in the town and we do care for the constituents. Some of them get a bit lax now and then,” he said.

One resident at the mobile home park who declined to be identified Thursday said she was surprised there was an issue about the park because there’s been a strong emphasis on keeping lots clean in her six years there.

She said Shah sends quarterly notices reminding residents what their cleanup responsibilities are.

The single mother said she looked at other mobile home parks, including one on Central Avenue in Colonie and another in Glenville, and found the Pattersonville Trailer Park to be much cleaner.

She said she, too, has a pile of items she intends to dispose of this summer, but it isn’t easy getting rid of things like old broken chairs and tables. Large items that aren’t considered household trash aren’t collected during weekly trash pickup there, she said.

Strevy said the situation appears to be under control.

“I’m certain the season does play into it. And just to show that [Shah is] willing to work with the town, I think that’s a huge step in the right direction,” he said.