CARROLLTON, N.Y. — A broken-down mobile home that was moved illegally by individuals before it was abandoned in November on South Nine Mile Road in the town of Carrollton has sat precariously close to the county highway ever since.
The mobile home’s proximity to the road also prompted a call of complaint by a neighbor to town officials and has left town code enforcement and the Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Office uncertain how or when it will be removed.
The mobile home was hauled to the roadside area early Nov. 13, 2016, by a truck driven by Brandon L. Maynard, 32, and passengers Sandra K. Watson, 47, Todd E. Clark, 53, and Jacob E. Clark, 28, all of Great Valley. The individuals were seen by other motorists hauling the mobile home trailer with no wheels on U.S. Route 219, who alerted Sheriff’s Office deputies.
The trailer was found abandoned in a lane of South Nine Mile after the contraption crashed from broken axles and the driver couldn’t pull it any farther. The individuals were found after deputies backtracked them to Great Valley by following gouges made by the tire rims in the road. Maynard was charged with second-degree criminal nuisance, operating without a legal escort permit, aggravated unlicensed operation, no rear brakes, leaving the scene of a property damage accident, overwidth vehicle, no taxation tag and depositing hazardous debris on a public highway. Watson, Todd Clark and Jacob Clark were additionally charged with operating without a legal escort permit.
Undersheriff Robert Buchhardt said following the incident, the mobile home was moved off the lane of traffic and onto the berm by Portville Truck.
“They (truck company) would not take it away because they were not sure who was going to pay for it,” Buchhardt explained. “They did us a favor by removing it from the road with their big truck.”
Buchhardt said a neighbor in the area who had offered to sell the home for scrap, hasn’t been heard from since.
“Nobody wants to take responsibility for it because what do you do with it,” Buchhardt said of the dilapidated home measuring 12 feet in width by 70 feet in length. “The problem with it is that the axles are shot, that’s why it broke down in the first place.”
The mobile home’s location only feet away from the road compelled a resident to call town clerk Julie Carlson a couple of weeks ago with concerns. Carlson said she then contacted code enforcement officer John Helgager, who is looking into the matter.
“I got word of it three weeks ago and then I went on vacation,” Helgager said of the additional delay in the home’s removal.
Buchhardt said the four individuals have appeared in Carrollton Town Court on the charges.
