By Jason Anderson | Source |
A zoning change moved forward Tuesday that would require existing parks to undergo public review including approval from the Planning Commission and the City Council before switching from 55+ communities to an all-age facility.
An overlay to protect senior mobile home parks from conversion to all-age parks was moved forward by the City Council Tuesday night — against opposition from park owners, but with support from residents.
Lisa LaBarbera Toke, legal representative for three of the five senior mobile home parks in Santa Maria, described the effort as changing the rules in the middle of the game, and said it would not address the affordable housing shortage in the city.
Toke noted that none of the senior mobile home parks have expressed interest in converting existing parks at this time, and the ordinance would only reduce the available housing stock to Santa Marians who are currently struggling to find homes locally.
“We believe that this is something that’s not necessary and will damage the senior mobile home parks that are currently doing business in good faith in Santa Maria, and have no intention of changing that,” Toke said.
She also noted that most of the provisions in the ordinance are already state or federal law, and the oversight requirements would create a new regulatory burden on the City.
The concept of “changing the rules in the middle of the game” was brought up by Mayor Alice Patino after a presentation by Director of Community Development Chenin Dow, to describe the mayor’s unease with the proposal.
However, Dow and City Attorney Thomas Watson said that the change was needed to give the City enforcement power over a conversion process that has happened in Goleta and other Central Coast cities.
Age restriction changes at mobile home parks have also led to legal action against cities who tried to intervene to stop the conversion mid-stream without previously setting up rules and regulations restricting the effort.
“This will serve as an anti-displacement safeguard, particularly for our seniors aged 55-plus, who are particularly vulnerable as they are on fixed incomes,” Dow said.
Dow added that approximately 60% of senior households in Santa Maria qualify as lower income, meaning they make 80 percent or less of the area median income. The percentage constitutes 3,400 households.
The senior mobile home park overlay would protect roughly 1,100 different households according to Dow.
After the full adoption of the zoning change, the five identified senior mobile-home parks would be required to maintain an 80% occupancy rate in which one person in the household was over 55 years of age.
Parks would also be required to post signage in the park, and disclose on documentation and vacancy listings that the park is for 55+ senior occupancy. Operators must also submit documentation to the City of resident age-verification every two years.
The biggest change would be that any effort to convert a park in the overlay to an all-age park would require public hearings, and approval from the Planning Commission and the City Council.
While the changes would make it harder to change the age requirements for property owners, it would not stop or ban them, according to the city attorney.
“We have reviewed this, it is consistent with federal law,” Watson said. “And again, we are not making a permanent restriction; we’re making a restriction that becomes a little bit more difficult if you decide to change, but we are not precluding change.”
Most of the questions from council members centered around the 80-20 occupancy guidelines and how they would work in the face of in-home caregivers, deaths in the household, or if residents need to take in a younger child or grandchild.
Dow said that the 80% occupancy threshold would only require one of the occupants to be over 55, and was built around the federal Housing for Older Persons Act.
“Additionally, under no circumstances would we be kicking people out of their homes so that we’re complying with this,” Dow said. “We would ask parks to then rent new spaces that become available to 55-plus to get closer to the threshold.”
Toke spoke on behalf of the parks and against the ordinance, who also submitted a written letter to the council.
Five people spoke in support of the zoning change, including Gary Hall who has asked council and the City to do something to protect senior parks at Council meetings for years.
“I want to thank the Community Development Department again for preparing the senior Mobile Home Park District ordinance,” Hall said. “Without this ordinance, Santa Maria mobile home seniors will continue to live with an ongoing threat that their senior park could be converted into an all-age park.
The ordinance was moved for approval by Councilmember Richard Batalla, seconded by Councilmember Gloria Flores and approved 5-0. It will return for final approval at the Sept. 1 council meeting.
ED NOTE: Members of GSMOL and the North Santa Barbara [County] Manufactured Home Team (NSBMHT), an allied coalition serving North Santa Barbara County, have been campaigning for this ordinance under the leadership of Gary Hall.
