City of San Antonio: New tenants should have never lived at flooded mobile home park

KSAT Defenders investigate property owner of mobile home park on Plumnear Road

SAN ANTONIO – The KSAT Defenders have learned new information about the property owner of a flood damaged mobile home park located off Plumnear Road near Leon Creek.

The City of San Antonio says property owner Mark Abdelhak should have never had any new tenants live there since he was not granted any city permits since 2007. The city says it has been after the owner for several years to shut it down. 

District 4 Councilman Rey Saldana visited the area shortly after the flood and tried to encourage residents to pack up and move to higher ground.

"You should not be living in a flood plain and that's what that area is. It's an irrefutable fact," Saldana said. "His interest is to make money off of folks who live there our interest is the safety of those residents."

Abdelhak filed a lawsuit against the City of San Antonio because the city refused to grant him any new permits.

City officials say he wasn't allowed to put in any new structures or allow any new tenants on the property.

City Attorney Michael Bernard says the city even tried to clean it up a few years ago because the area was unsafe. 

"We demolished a bunch of the structures after that flood because they were uninhabitable. He wanted new structures, he wanted to allow new tenants. That's a life safety issue," said Bernard. 

The lawsuit was settled a few weeks ago in favor of the city. To help flood victims recover, the city has offered a shelter and storage units to residents.

"Every resource we have whether its providing the food, the shelter, the clothing. We have made it available we just need to make sure they work with us," Saldana said.