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Signatures collected for T.O. initiative
Team to submit petitions to qualify mobile home plan for vote
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More from Conejo ValleySupporters of a proposed initiative to add to mobile home park protections in Thousand Oaks have gathered more than 10,000 petition signatures — more than enough to place it on the November ballot, leaders of the campaign said Thursday.
Members of the all-volunteer signature-gathering team planned to submit the petitions to the City Clerk today to qualify "Erickson's Law" for a public vote.
"We have so many signatures, we are over the top and beyond," said Brenda Mohr Feldman, a resident of the Vallecito Mobile Home Park. "That is what a bunch of people, a bunch of seniors, united can do."
The initiative needs about 7,150 verified signatures to qualify for the November ballot.
The measure calls for an owner looking to close a mobile home park to pay a lump sum equal to the market value of each mobile home in the park, a lump sum equal to the cost of moving the displaced residents, and a lump sum equal to first and last months' rent and any security deposit for the residents' new rental homes. The money would go to the displaced residents.
It also calls for the creation of a new land-use designation for mobile home parks in Thousand Oaks and gives residents a chance to buy the land under their homes.
The initiative campaign was led by the Thousand Oaks Mobile Homeowners Action Coalition, which was formed by mobile home residents.
The pending closure of the Conejo Mobile Home Park on Newbury Road stoked the fears of residents there and in eight other parks in the city, prompting them to plead with the city for help. City officials say they have helped and will continue to assist, but others dispute that.
The City Council changed the land-use designation for the Conejo Mobile Home Park to high-density residential, which ensures the land will be used for housing. Officials said the move would offer the best chance for affordable units to be included in a project on the site.
With the closure of the Conejo Mobile Home Park set to occur, city officials have been serving in a mediator capacity between residents and the owner, who plans to develop the property.
"The mediation is moving forward," City Attorney Amy Albano said. "All sides continue to work cooperatively."
Organizers said the Thousand Oaks Mobile Homeowners Action Coalition will help the elderly and people on limited incomes living in the city's mobile homes.
"I think the voters are thinking they want to keep the seniors, and that it's very important for us to keep our affordable housing in Thousand Oaks," Feldman said.
Although many elderly and other people on limited incomes live in the city's mobile home parks, the majority are not technically considered affordable housing. That designation is given to housing with a long-term covenant that ensures it remains affordable and where the residents qualify for low-income housing.
"Residents who live in mobile homes are part of the city's economic diversity and well-being," former planning commissioner Janet Wall said.
Posted by carefulnow on May 16, 2008 at 6:08 a.m. (Suggest removal)
They don't call 'em the Greatest Generation for nothing. Congratulations!
Posted by sparks240 on May 16, 2008 at 4:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I guess there will be no more new mobile home parks if the initiative passes. Nobody in their right mind would get into that kind of business with with a law like that.
Posted by hrwmnw on May 18, 2008 at 8:27 a.m. (Suggest removal)
If this absolutely draconian initiative were to pass, any owner of a mobile home park might as well just sign over the deed to the city or all the mobile home space "renters". Look at the price this intiative is asking a PRIVATE owner to pay other individuals (who only have a contact that they have temporarily use of the space)to have his own property back. Think of it as if you rented out a room in your home and someone built a large oversized bed in there that now couldn't be easily removed. Then a law was passed that required you to pay them for the full cost of that bed, all their moving expenses, monies equal to two months rent and you also get the benefit of covering the security deposit for that person's new place. Does this make any sense? This is not fair! Some relocation funds...maybe, but definitely not this.
Posted by jmw on May 21, 2008 at 7:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Regarding the comment from hrwmnw, the writer understandably has not researched mobile home park law which, for the most part, is regulated and enforced by the California Department of Housing and Community Development. California state law ALREADY provides that the landowner must pay all costs associated with moving the “bed” if he decides to boot his renter! While we may think that landowners own the “right” to do whatever they want with their land, State law acknowledges that mobile home parks are not vacant, free-and-clear land, and that accommodation must be made for those renting the land should a park owner choose to close his park. This has been deemed “fair” for decades.
The conundrum today for mobile homeowners in Thousand Oaks is that there is simply nowhere for a landowner closing a mobile home park in Thousand Oaks to move their homes! There are no new mobile home parks opening in Ventura County or any other nearby county. Thousand Oaks mobile homeowners will be forced to walk away from their homes for far less than their value. Thus, the Thousand Oaks Mobile Homeowners Action Coalition (“TOMHAC”) was formed to address this unique type of “taking” and to attempt to counteract the homelessness issue that Conejo Mobile Home Park residents are facing.
Thousand Oaks Mobile Home parks are comprised primarily of seniors and fixed income/low income residents. The State acknowledges the displacement that occurs to this low income segment of the population when they have to leave their homes to accommodate government. As you know, government also pays relocation costs when they come in and use eminent domain for freeways and other projects. When government chooses to approve rezoning of mobile home parks, the developer makes out, the government makes out with higher property taxes, and former residents can end up on the street. This initiative that we have deemed “Erickson’s Law,” after a strong proponent who passed away, will help prevent or forestall homelessness and the added costs to taxpayers if and when the dislocated people hit the welfare rolls.
Mobile home takeovers and conversions are a hot issue in California and other states where land values have escalated tremendously. If hrwmnw is still interested, please listen to the San Luis Obispo April 22, 2008 Board of Supervisors’ meeting to witness elected officials who took action similar to our initiative to protect mobile home parks in San Luis, particularly “substandard” parks where low income people reside: http://slocounty.granicus.com/MediaPl...
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