Park closures to remain in state’s hands

Deirdre Newman

The City Council has been listening to frustrated residents of the El

Nido and Snug Harbor trailer parks complain about the closure process

for the last year.

While those complaints were enough to inspire consideration of

regulations to clarify the process, they weren’t enough to convince

the council to approve those regulations. On Monday, the council

rejected an ordinance that would have given the city more authority

over the closure and conversion of mobile home parks. The decision

means the more general state law will remain as the only requirement.

“I think [the ordinance] will create unnecessary burdens for

property owners,” Councilman Allan Mansoor said. “I’m afraid it will

make it too costly for owners to change or convert the use.”

Dick Matherly, a former El Nido resident who was one of the most

vocal critics of the relocation offer, said he was disappointed with

the decision.

“I feel they went with money, and the park owners have the money,

Matherly said.

The law would have defined terms such as “closure of a park” and

“conversion of a park” and would have required that a park owner file

a “relocation report” containing information on comparable mobile

home parks within a minimum 50-mile radius.

Some park owners argued that a local law would be too restrictive.

“For a city bent on redevelopment of the Westside, it’s adding new

layers of bureaucracy and cost to anyone who wants to redevelop their

land,” said Tom Carson, the owner of Greenleaf Park.

Council members Libby Cowan and Chris Steel supported the

ordinance.

“I don’t think it should be easy to convert or close a mobile home

park and I don’t think it should be onerous, and I don’t think this

is,” Cowan said. “But there has to be a middle ground that we as a

community take forward and say, ‘Here are the rules and

regulations.’”

State law still requires mobile home park owners to create

relocation impact reports if they’re closing or converting a park. In

March, the council approved the report for the Snug Harbor Village

and El Nido trailer parks. Owner Joe Brown offered a relocation

benefit of $3,000 for single-wide trailers and $6,300 for double-wide

mobile homes.

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at deirdre.newman@latimes.com.