DEFIANCE, Ohio — Call 11 for Action has learned that the owners of a trailer park filed for a restraining order against the city of Defiance on Friday morning.
The civil complaint filed in Defiance County court by Defiance Partners LLC is in response to the city's plan to demolish several trailers at Northtowne Estates that were deemed unsafe.
The requests for the restraining order and a preliminary injunction are to stop the city from tearing them down on Friday.
There's also a request for a permanent injunction to prevent the mayor, Michael McCann, from interfering in Defiance Partners' business relations, as well as a request for $50,000.
Call 11 for Action is told several families living in the trailers were at the courthouse during the filing. The families are supposed to be out of their homes on Friday.
Despite the filing, the city is not prohibited from proceeding with demolishing the trailers. The judge denied the motion for a temporary restraining order because it did not comply with civil rule 65(A).
While the City of Defiance could go forward with demolition before the hearing, law director Sean O'Donnell said, "For reasons not directly related to this litigation, we will await the outcome of the preliminary injunction hearing before proceeding with the demolition."
The judge also said the application for an injunction requires reasonable notice to the adverse party and has set that matter for hearing on Jan. 26.
The court filing said that the park, "offers residents an affordable living arrangement that the residents may not otherwise be able to achieve."
You can read the full filing here:
Many responded to a Facebook advertisement posted by park management that the trailers were available to move into, even after they were slated for demolition.
"If this has been in the works for so long, why were people brought in here to try and fix these trailers up and make them a home if the park and the park management knew that this was gonna be happening?" said McKenna Murray, who reached out to Call 11 for Action for help. "Why bring in more people just to be thrown out on the streets?"
Call 11 for Action reached out to the City of Defiance and received this statement from law director, Sean O'Donnell:
The City Administration has grave concerns about the safety of those residents and the fact that they appear to have been tricked into moving into condemned mobile homes with false promises of safety and the false hope of acquiring title. We are not a wealthy city, but our laws and ordinances require minimum living standards as a matter of basic human decency. We will continue to enforce those laws and contest the false allegations contained in this lawsuit accordingly.
MORE FROM WTOL 11: