Petaluma designates 5 mobile home parks for ‘seniors only’

Petaluma’s elected leaders made another move Monday in the ongoing struggle over the city’s mobile home parks and how they should be run.

In a 7-0 vote, the City Council approved a new “overlay district” for senior mobile home parks, effectively codifying “seniors only” designations at five of the city’s parks.

The vote follows announcements in June and July by WGP Property Management, the operators of Youngstown – a mobile home park at 911 N. McDowell Blvd. that had long been considered a seniors-only facility – that they intended to raise rents by more than $900 a month and to convert Youngstown to an all-ages park, or possibly close the park entirely, in response to new rules previously enacted by the city.

That announcement sparked anger and protests among residents – and reminders from city officials that neither the Los Altos-based property management company nor the park’s owner, Three Pillar Communities, can raise rents that high without going into arbitration, nor can they close the park without city approval.

City leaders, who have been tightening renter protections at mobile home parks, tightened them further with the newly created overlay district, which specifies that 80% of all spaces in “seniors only” parks must be occupied by at least one person 55 or older.

In addition, all signage, advertising, park rules and rental agreements must state the “seniors only” designation, and such parks must obtain city certification every two years to show they’re in compliance, said Assistant City Attorney Dylan Brady.

“Our ordinance would require (park owners) to maintain the status quo and really deter them from changing to an all-ages park because then they would be in violation of our municipal code,” Brady said.

The new compliance requirements also include “additional questions” that mobile home park owners must submit to the city to comply with the city’s recently enacted renter protections, Brady said. Those protections capped the annual rent increases that park owners can impose to either 4% of the current rent, or 70% of the change in the Bay Area Consumer Price Index, whichever is less.

The five mobile home parks affected by the new overlay district are Leisure Lake Mobile Home Park, Petaluma Estates Mobile Home Park, Royal Oaks Senior Mobile Home Park, The Cottages of Petaluma, and Youngstown Mobile Home Park. Two all-ages parks, Capri Villas and Little Woods Mobile Villa, will retain their all-ages designation.

Petaluma is the first city in Sonoma County to permanently create such an overlay district, although on Sept. 12 Cotati passed an interim ordinance designed to prohibit the conversion of senior mobile home parks to all-ages parks. Cotati’s ordinance remains in effect for 45 days.

‘No boundaries’

Residents of Little Woods Mobile Villa also received threats of park closure in July following the city’s new rent protections, prompting them to accuse the park’s operators, Stockton-based Harmony Communities, of “retaliation” over the city’s new rent protections.

Harmony Communities has made similar threats to close other North Bay mobile home parks, according to reports. The company's founder, Matthew Davies, said in a June 2021 interview that “Government overregulation and NIMBYism are the biggest obstacles to building the affordable housing stock in this country and particularly in my home state of California.”

In California, 10 cities have a senior mobile home overlay district, Brady said, including American Canyon, Lancaster and Yucaipa. Ventura County also has such a district, according to the city staff report.

Five residents spoke during the public comment period at Monday night’s meeting, urging the council to pass the ordinance and thanking them and city staff for developing it. Three submitted comments, also in support of the new overlay district, came from residents of Petaluma Estates and from Legal Aid.

The senior mobile home district overlay is needed to ensure that Petaluma senior citizens “won’t become pawns in investors’ land purchases,” said Jodi Johnson, a Youngstown resident who has been at the center of her community’s organizing efforts.

Three Pillar Communities, which owns Youngstown under its founder, Daniel Weisfield, has “no boundaries and lawful ordinances and we can’t police them alone,” Johnson said.

After Council member Karen Nau asked if there would be limits to park visitors, City Attorney Eric Danly said that that would fall under park rules.

Vice Mayor Janice Cader Thompson asked about the creation of a registry where mobile home park residents can get information related to their rights.

Staff added measures to ensure more reporting from park owners, and “added significant remedies available to the city directly to be able to, if necessary, bring enforcement actions ourselves to address noncompliance,” Danly said.

Council member Mike Healy asked about increasing the minimum requirement of seniors living in those mobile home parks to 90% or 95%.

“In terms of facts on the ground, it’s closer to 100% and to me that’s the status quo,” Healy said.

Danly suggested the council adopt the ordinance as it was presented at this first reading on Monday. But before the ordinance is fully adopted at its second reading, he would do more research to understand possible impacts of an increased senior requirement and present some options to them in the future, he said.

Council member John Shribbs also suggested a change of the minimum age to 60, in order to limit younger families that may have “three or four teenagers” and ensure the parks are specifically for “older crowds” he said.

Danly said he and staff want to make sure the City Council is aware of all the options, and that “we’ll be happy to address that” at an upcoming meeting.

You can reach Staff Writer Jennifer Sawhney at 707-521-5346 or jennifer.sawhney@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @sawhney_media.