Grower fined for housing people in converted greenhouse

By Felix Cortez

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    MONTEREY COUNTY, California (KSBW) — A north Monterey County grower is being fined nearly $60,000 a day after investigators say they found roughly 100 people living in a converted greenhouse that county leaders say was illegal and raised health and safety concerns.

Investigators say some of those living in the greenhouse were as young as 2 years old.

“The sheriff’s office is working with the county on this humanitarian issue in the north county,” said Monterey County undersheriff Keith Boyd.

That humanitarian effort now focused on a nursery on the 11-hundred block of San Miguel Canyon Road in Royal Oaks near Prunedale. That’s where investigators say dozens of people, including women and children, were living in the converted greenhouse for several months.

“In the units that we observed, there was no windows, no natural light except for some openings in the ceiling,” said Nick Pasculli, a county spokesperson. “There was obvious, you know, code violations, safety issues with regard to the structure itself.”

Investigators who went to the property said the greenhouse was divided into 62 units, complete with makeshift kitchens and bathrooms.

According to the county, the converted greenhouse was an unpermitted dwelling and in violation of county building codes; in some cases, gas lines were exposed.

A multi-agency effort involving social services and child protective services is now underway to help place the renters in other housing.

“God forbid something happened like a fire could be very, very tragic. And so these are the things that we want to avoid, and we don’t want people to be in situations like that where on some level, the safety of their families is beyond their own control,” Pasculli said.

When reached at the entrance of his property, the owner said his renters didn’t have to pay utilities. When asked if it was fair his renters were living in such conditions, he responded, “Is it fair that people in Pajaro are living in their cars?”

In the latter case, he’s referring to residents of Pajaro who were forced from their homes in March after the Pajaro River levee breached, flooding the town and forcing many into shelters and motels while others chose to sleep in their cars.

But county leaders say he was charging people as much as $1,500 a month depending on the size of the unit.

A joint criminal investigation is now underway involving the sheriff’s office and prosecutors.

“To determine is there criminal culpability that may exist, who might be responsible, and that’s our role working with our law enforcement partners to sort that out,” Boyd said.

The property owner has been fined $59,600 and will continue to be fined that amount on a daily basis as long as the code violations exist.

The county is also requiring that the landlord provide two months of relocation assistance at fair market value for every family occupying the estimated 62 make-shift dwellings.

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