MINUTES

MOBILEHOME COMMISSION MEETING

______________________

March 26, 2009

Elena Baskin Live Oak Senior Center

 

COMMISSIONERS PRESENT:                   Jean Brocklebank, 1ST District

Henry Cleveland, 2ND District

                                                                        Mary L. Hanley, 3rd District

                                                                        Rick Halterman, 5TH District

Bonnie Lund, WMHA Representative

Carol Lerno, GSMOL Representative 

 

COMMISSIONERS ABSENT:                      Mary Louise Crowther, 4th District

                                                                         

                                                                                                                                               

BOARD OF SUPERVISOR LIAISON:          Naomi Brauner, County Supervisor’s Analyst For John Leopold, County Supervisor, First District

                                 

COUNTY COUNSEL :                                  Absent

 

SECRETARY:                                                Lee Ann Shenkman

 

LEGISLATIVE REPORT:                              Jerry Bowles

 

PRESENTERS:                                             Erik Schapiro & Patrick Heisinger of the Santa Cruz County Planning Department

                                               

                                                           

Chair Henry Cleveland called the meeting to order at 9:30 a.m.  There were 12 members of the public in the audience.  The minutes of the January 22, 2009, meeting were reviewed and upon motion by Commissioner Lerno, seconded by Commissioner Lund, the January 22, 2009, minutes were approved. 

I.          ADDITIONS AND DELETIONS TO THE AGENDA

No additions or deletions.

II.         BUSINESS

 

A.         Commissioner Reports

Commissioner Brocklebank reported that: (a) letters have been posted at Snug Harbor stating that the park owner is working with the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) on the electrical problems in the park and the residents are again paying rent; (b) a second story home has been installed in Blue and Gold Mobilehome Park, and Commissioner Brocklebank questions whether the parking meets the requirements of the

County’s ordinance passed by the Board of Supervisors a few years ago.  She understands that the parking requirements were tied to the size of the home, and now that this home is 2,000 square feet, per the Santa Cruz Sentinel article, there should be three parking spaces provided for this home.  Commissioner Brocklebank and Naomi Brauner will follow up on this and report back. 

Commissioner Halterman reported that there will probably be meetings in April regarding how to use redevelopment money.  There must be a five-year plan, and everyone is welcome to provide input.  Also, there will be a GSMOL meeting on March 14, 2009, at 10:00 A.M.  Will Constantine will be the guest speaker, and the meeting will be held at the Capitola City Hall in the City Council Chambers.  Mr. Constantine may have an update on the Sonoma case, and there is a possibility that the GSMOL president will be in attendance. 

Commissioner Carol Lerno reported that the price of mobilehomes has gone down quite a bit due to the economy.

Commissioner Hanley reported that her park has a container for park residents to use as a depository for sharps and old medicines.  The problem is a practical one, which is finding a place to put the container so that it is not in plain sight but so that it is also available to the residents to use.  Also, Commissioner Hanley questioned a proposed law regarding pre-HUD homes (homes built before approximately July 1976) and lack of bank lending for these homes. Commissioner Hanley will research the status of this and report back at next month’s meeting.

 

 

B.                 Legislation

Jerry Bowles reported that the legislators have introduced a number of bills, and they have until this Friday to introduce their bills for the year.  There are four bills that he will be watching; these legislative bills can be found on the following websites: http://sinet2.sen.ca.gov/mobilehome/ and also at www.leginfo.ca.gov

SB 111 (Correa):  has to do with the mobilehome residency law which governs residency in mobilehome parks, including those with ownership interests in cooperatives, subdivisions, etc.  Among other things, these provisions set forth rights regarding the use of the property.  This bill would reorganize the mobilehome residency law, revising and recasting various provisions.  This bill would make other technical conforming changes.  The sections not yet addressed are the sections regarding resident owned parks.  The purpose of the reorganization is to make the mobilehome residency law clearer to read, less ambiguous, and to make technical changes that need to be made so that it will comply with other laws.

SB 23 (Padilla):  manufactured housing emergency and fire safety plan which is borne out of the fires in Southern California that destroyed several mobilehome parks.  This bill would require on or after January 1, 2010, an operator of a mobilehome park or manufactured housing community to develop and implement an emergency and fire safety plan.  This is a spot bill, not yet set for hearing.

AB 481 (Ma):  this bill was probably introduced by the WMA and is regarding rent control for principal residence; it identifies that if the mobilehome is not the principal residence, it is out of rent control.  Current law provides that a mobilehome located on a space in a mobilehome park is exempt from local rent control protection if the park management can show, based on public records, the home is not the homeowner’s principal residence.  The rent control exemption also does not apply if the park does not permit the homeowner to sublet the space within the park that is subject to rent control.  This bill eliminates the public record and subletting requirements.

AB 566 (Nava):  this has to do with mobilehome park conversions; violations can have a criminal punishment of either a felony or misdemeanor; the Subdivision Map Act provides that local governments are limited to imposing only certain state requirements upon converters of mobilehome parks to condominium resident ownership.   This bill would expand one of the state requirements for a survey of resident support by providing the survey must show support of the majority of the residents in order for the converter to obtain a map from the local jurisdiction.  The bill would also allow local agencies to enact “reasonable” measures in addition to current state requirements to prevent “sham” conversions or to preserve affordable housing.

 

C.                 County Counsel Report

 

No report.

 

D.                 County Supervisor Report

Naomi Brauner attended on behalf of Supervisor Leopold.  Over the next nine months Supervisor Leopold will be preparing the five-year redevelopment plan for the Live Oak-Soquel area.  He has been meeting with the community to obtain input.  There is approximately $50 million available in bonds.  The final plan will be voted on by the Board of Supervisors in November.  Anything that was in the previous five-year plan or the one-year implementation plan will continue to be built; approximately $20-30 million of the $50 million will be spent on the previous projects.  The remaining money will be spent on new projects.

The schedule of Supervisor Leopold’s community meetings can be accessed from the Mobilehome Commission website by clicking on Supervisor John Leopold’s name on the home page of the website.  The currently scheduled constituent meetings are as follows:

 

Wednesday, March 4                                       Wednesday, March 18

10:00 - 11:30am                                              10:00 – 11:00am

People’s Coffee, 1200 17th Ave                      Erik’s DeliCafe, 1664 Soquel Drive

 

Wednesday, March 11                         Wednesday, March 25

10:00 - 11:30am                                              10:00 – 11:30am

Loma Prieta Community Center                       Porter Memorial Library
23800 Summit Road in Los Gatos                   3050 Porter St. in Soquel

 

 

E.                  Santa Cruz County Housing Manager Discussion of County Programs for Mobilehome Parks and Tour of Pleasant Acres Mobilehome Park

Erik Schapiro discussed the various programs available to residents of the unincorporated areas of the County: (a) Measure J, (b) first time home-buyer program, (c) change-out program, and (d) mobilehome rehab program.

Mr. Schapiro explained that the County assisted a non-profit developer rebuild the infrastructure and replace approximately 40 mobilehomes in the Pleasant Acres Mobilehome Park.  At the end of the meeting, Mr. Schapiro conducted a tour of the Pleasant Acres Mobilehome Park for anyone interested. 

III.        CORRESPONDENCE

           

A.                  January 28, 2009, Letter of Appreciation from County Supervisor Neal Coonerty to the Mobilehome Commission Members

B.                  “Executive Summary” of the “Marina Mobilehome Report” by Michael St. John, Dated December 2008, Submitted by Park Owner Greg Evans.  Commissioner Halterman explained that this report was prepared by the park owner.  The official city report is not yet completed.

IV.        COMMUNITY INPUT

 

A resident of El Rio Mobilehome Park informed the Commission that the park residents now have a lawyer helping them with issues in the park.

 

A resident of Blue Pacific Mobilehome Park informed the Commission that the park owners have signed the offer and the plaintiffs are now discussing their options.

 

A resident of Pacific Cove Mobilehome Park in Capitola reported that the City of Capitola wanted to put a modular unit in the park to be used by the police department.  The residents oppose this because the park is mobilehome exclusive. 

 

Henry Cleveland provided information regarding a supplier of mobilehome parts, “Sav-Awn Aluminum Products.”  

 

V.         ADJOURNMENT

 

The meeting was adjourned at 10:32 A.M.  The next meeting will be March 26, 2009.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

                                                                                                                                                             

                                                            Lee Ann Shenkman, Staff Secretary to the

Mobilehome Commission

 

Approved: