City looking into consequences of mobile home park conversions
Moratorium enacted
By Darleen Principe darleen@theacorn.com

IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers PRICE OF CHANGE?- Planning staff wants to know what might happen to residents of mobile home parks like Susana Woods Prestige if the parks were converted to resident ownership.

The Simi Valley City Council adopted an ordinance Monday establishing an urgency moratorium that prohibits the closure or conversion of mobile home parks in the city for the next 45 days.

The moratorium affects the seven mobile home parks in Simi Valley, which comprise more than 800 rental spaces.

Peter Lyons, city planner, said the purpose of the moratorium is to give city staff the time to research possible consequences in the event that a mobile home park is closed or converted to resident ownership.

"Somebody could conceivably buy the lot where the mobile home is," Lyons said. "And all sorts of scenarios could occur (for current or future residents)."

If a mobile home park is converted to resident ownership, the owners of the park would be able to create residential subdivisions- private lots- that can be sold to individual owners.

Because the city considers mobile home parks to be an alternative to traditional affordable housing, city staff is concerned that a conversion to resident ownership may cause a significant threat to current mobile home owners, who do not own the land upon which their home is situated.

If the parks are subdivided, the city could lose affordable housing, Lyons said.

"Some of the tenants currently in the parks could be offered an opportunity to buy their lot, but some of them don't have the means to do so," Lyons said. "Even if they do, a lot of them might not realize the overhead costs of maintaining the park."

Lyons said part of the problem is that the water and sewer systems on many of the mobile home parks are very old.

"If you get an assortment of owners out there who buy a lot with a mobile home on it, then a couple years down the road everyone starts to realize there's very substantial improvements required to the subdivision," Lyons said. "And they may not be able to afford it."

Lyons said a few current owners of mobile home parks have informally expressed interest in converting their properties to residential subdivisions, but none has actually applied to do so. The city is also unaware of any owners pursuing a park closure.

"We're just being proactive to establish clear and concise standards for mobile home conversion," Lyons said.

According to a city staff report, the city's General Plan could be amended to address mobile home park closures and conversions.

The current moratorium may be extended for an additional 10 months and 15 days following a public hearing.

"During the next 45 days, we'll most likely prepare for a public hearing to extend the moratorium for sufficient time to come up with a plan to amend the city's standards," Lyons said.