Crews have begun cleaning up abandoned trailers in the Ypsilanti Mobile Village.

Tom Perkins | For AnnArbor.com

Cleanup efforts are now under way in an abandoned trailer park in Ypsilanti Township after a judge ordered the owner to make significant progress in clearing it within 30 days.

Washtenaw County Circuit Court Judge Donald Shelton declared the Ypsilanti Mobile Village a public nuisance at a hearing last week — a victory for Ypsilanti Township officials who have been battling for months to get the park cleaned up.

Per the order, park owner Dominic D’Mello now must remove all remaining trailers, mail boxes, signs, street lamps, landscape edging, satellite dishes and garbage by mid-February. He also must raze three structures on the property.

A compliance hearing is scheduled for Feb. 16.

D’Mello has not responded to AnnArbor.com's attempts to reach him for comment.

Within 60 days, D’Mello must remove all abandoned tie downs, concrete pads, above-ground utility infrastructure and cap all sewer lines in the park, which is located at 953 East Michigan Avenue near Ecorse Road.

“I think that this is the beginning of getting that whole mess cleaned up,” township attorney Doug Winters said.

Shelton added D’Mello as a defendant in the case, meaning he is now personally accountable for the clean up. Previously, Cormello LLC, one of his companies that owned the park, was named as the sole defendant.

Siding has been stripped off the outside of the trailers, which are being removed. The above ground electrical infrastructure will also be removed.

Tom Perkins | For AnnArbor.com

The order came after a quick series of hearings and legal maneuvers throughout late December and early January. D’Mello filed for bankruptcy just hours before he was to be in circuit court for the original emergency show cause hearing on Dec. 16. That placed a stay on all other legal proceedings.

A U.S. bankruptcy judge then ruled the bankruptcy didn’t protect D’Mello from a municipality seeking to enforce its ordinances.

D’Mello’s attorney sent a letter to township officials on Jan. 3 stating a company had been hired to clear the park and asking the township to consider canceling any further legal proceedings. The township opted to still meet in Washtenaw County Circuit Court last week.

“We had a very detailed cleanup order entered on that day,” Winters said. “The court intends to hold D’Mello’s feet to the fire, and I’ll do the same.”

The court will take under advisement the township’s request that D’Mello remove all roadways, fill in gullies created by utility crocks and remove or treat soil contaminated with sewage.

The park's office is one of three structures that must be razed.

Tom Perkins | For AnnArbor.com

If D’Mello doesn’t comply with the order, the township has been granted the authority to enter the park and clean it up. A memo from a company contracted to clear the park estimated the job would cost between $75,000 and $100,000.

The township provided Shelton with a long list of problems in the park and numerous photos and a video to accompany the complaint.

Among the issues the township listed in its Dec. 16 complaint:

• Raw sewage continued to leak from several units. 
• A woman reported being dragged into an abandoned trailer and raped in October.
• Water lines were broken, causing contaminated water to flow back into the system.
• The township spent thousands of dollars securing abandoned mobile homes, which scrappers had broken open and stripped of anything of value, including the trailers’ siding. 
• Squatters had taken up residence in at least one unit.
• Natural gas leaked from broken gas lines. 
• Prostitution activity increased, prompting the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Department and Ypsilanti Police Department to conduct special joint operations in the area. 
• Colonies of feral cats and wild dogs roamed the park. The dogs have chased sheriff’s deputies on foot patrol through the park. 
• The Sheriff’s Department had to set up a foot patrol in the park, and the area required significant police resources. 
• Former residents’ belongings and trash were strewn throughout the park.

Winters said he intends to seek repayment of costs the township incurred throughout last six months.

“I want the township reimbursed for what I believe was intentional, flagrant, unlawful conduct by Dominic D’Mello for just walking away from that park,” Winters said.

Tom Perkins is a freelance writer for AnnArbor.com. Reach the news desk at news@annarbor.com or 734-623-2530.