New owners have started a legal effort to evict the remaining tenants from the Beacon Charters and RV Park on Port of Ilwaco property.

ILWACO, Wash. — The dispute between landlord and tenants that has been playing out over the past several months at the Beacon Charters and RV Park is headed to court.

On June 16, the new owners of the RV park at the Port of Ilwaco filed residential unlawful detainer lawsuits against 13 remaining tenants in Pacific County Superior Court.

The lawsuits allege that unsafe conditions at the RV park pose a threat to remaining tenants, that their presence impedes park staff’s ability to complete the necessary repairs and that the new owners’ lease with the port invalidates any rental agreements that the tenants had under the previous ownership.

The lawsuits had long been expected since the new owners, Michael and Denise Werner, took it over from Mayor Mike Cassinelli earlier this year. The Werners’ intent is to turn the park into an RV resort, after it largely served as long-term housing for local residents during Cassinelli’s ownership.

Filed by Vancouver-based attorney Mark Passannante on the new owners’ behalf, the lawsuits make three claims that they argue should allow the Werners to terminate the tenancy of the RV park’s remaining occupants, or constitutes an unlawful detainer and allows for the eviction of the tenants.

The first claim alleges that the defective condition of the park is so substantial that it is unfeasible for the landlord to remedy within the allowed time under a provision of the state’s manufactured and mobile home landlord-tenant act.

The lawsuit cites a separate provision of the act that says if a court or arbitrator determines a defective condition is so substantial and that the tenant should not remain on the mobile home space in its defective condition, then the court or arbitrator may authorize the termination of the tenancy and set a reasonable time for the tenant to vacate the premises.

The lawsuit cites a notice in late February that was delivered to tenants that allegedly advised them of the issues and offered the tenants rental space in a different park owned by the Werners.

That letter, which has been reviewed by the Chinook Observer, claimed to residents that they were being provided with a 30-day notice to vacate the property due to the park being sold, “and the new ownership will need to start immediately on improvements to the park” — with a target completion date of September.

That letter, signed “Management,” has been the center of much controversy, after Cassinelli, while he was still the RV park’s owner, wrote to tenants in March that it had not come from him and to disregard it.

The second claim essentially makes the same allegations as the first claim, but instead cites similar language in the state’s residential landlord-tenant act that gives a court or arbitrator the authority to terminate the tenancy and set a reasonable time for the tenant to vacate the premises.

The third claim alleges that Cassinelli terminated the lease he had with the Port of Ilwaco for the premises of the RV park’s location, and that Cassinelli had sent a notice to the residents of the park in February advising them that the term of the lease expired.

That February letter to tenants, as reviewed by the Chinook Observer, makes no mention of Cassinelli’s lease with the port having expired, only mentioning that the property has been sold. And Cassinelli, in a letter to tenants several weeks later, said that notice had not come from him and was not authorized by him, and told tenants to ignore it.

Matt Gagliasso, the CEO of Deer Point Meadows Investments, which is owned by the Werners, told the Observer in May that he had received explicit approval from Cassinelli to deliver the February notice to tenants, and that he was shocked to see Cassinelli disavow it.