In Santa Clara County, California, winery owner Michael Ballard has incurred fines totaling $120,000 for allowing his manager, Marcelino Martinez, and his family to live rent-free in a trailer parked on his private estate.
According to Reason magazine’s website, Santa Clara County has hundreds of homeless individuals living in trailers or RVs on the streets, which is a prominent symbol of homelessness in the area and a long-standing issue. At a certain point last year, the county government counted 9,903 homeless individuals, with approximately 10% of them residing in RVs parked in public areas.
Martinez has been the vineyard manager for quite some time, but the high rental prices in the county led his family to make a home in a trailer parked on Ballard’s private estate. Ballard has been trying to build a permanent residence for Martinez’s family, but obtaining a residential building permit from the county government has taken several years.
During this time, county officials demanded the eviction of Martinez’s family, as the county prohibits the use of RVs parked on residential lots as dwellings. Ballard refused, stating, “I will not move the trailer, that would leave this family stranded on the streets, and I won’t do that.”
In response, county officials began imposing daily fines on Ballard, reaching a total of $120,000. Ballard is now suing the county in federal court, alleging that the fines violate the constitutional prohibition against excessive fines.
In 2013, Martinez asked his boss, Ballard, if he could move a trailer he owned onto the winery premises to live with his family. Knowing the challenges Martinez faced in finding housing in the county with exorbitant prices, Ballard agreed to their move in. According to Zillow, the median rent for apartments in the county is $3,200 per month.
Martinez’s family resided in the trailer until 2017 when a county enforcement officer noticed the trailer. Weeks later, Ballard received a letter either demanding the removal of the trailer or the eviction of Martinez’s family. Ballard said, “This would make it difficult for Martinez to continue working here, and his children would have to drop out of school.”
Initially, Ballard tried to obtain approval from the county government for allowing Martinez’s RV to be legally parked on the winery premises. However, the county government refused, citing regulations prohibiting the use of RVs as dwellings on residential lots.
Subsequently, Ballard attempted to construct an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) on his property for Martinez. He applied for the ADU construction permit and related documents in 2019, but due to the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, both his winery and the county permit office were closed.
It wasn’t until October 2022 that Ballard finally obtained the permit to build the ADU, but he still needs county approval for the fire system before Martinez’s family can move in.
While waiting for the ADU permit, Martinez’s family continued living in the trailer, and the county government kept issuing fines to Ballard. During the ADU construction, Ballard contested the fines according to the county’s administrative procedures, resulting in a reduction from $1,000 per day to $100 per day. However, the total fine still amounted to $120,000.
Paul Avelar, the lawyer representing Ballard, argues that “the trailer has not harmed anyone, and Ballard acted out of goodwill,” stating that the $120,000 fine is essentially a one-time penalty for violation, but treating each day as a new offense has led to this absurd amount.
The lawsuit contends that the fines imposed on Ballard violate the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits excessive fines, and that the county government’s fines infringe on Ballard’s right to due process and trial by jury.