After a number of previous requests from residents and housing advocates, Sonoma City Council will begin reviewing the city’s mobile home park closures and conversions ordinance during its Wednesday evening study session.
This reevaluation, everyone agrees, is essential to maintaining affordable housing in the city.
Residents and housing advocates have urged city leaders to update Sonoma’s mobile home regulations, which they contend are outdated and lacking in sufficient protections for those who live in them. Advocates have said stronger protections are needed because mobile homes are among the few affordable housing options in the city.
Sonoma is home to three mobile home parks, Moon Valley, Pueblo Serena and Sonoma Oaks, which provide more than 450 affordable units to residents.
Sonoma City Manager David Guhin said the process of updating the ordinance will begin after officials are certain that everyone in the community — City Council, residents, housing advocates and mobile home park owners — fully understands the current regulations and requirements of state law.
Guhin said city staff will host two study sessions to educate and inform the community about mobile home park closures, conversions and the cessation of use ordinance, along with any proposed changes that might be deemed necessary.
He said these study sessions will also focus on Assembly Bill 2782, which became law in 2021, and Senate Bill 610 which was signed into law last month.
These two measures expand mobile home park resident protections and require local governments to update their ordinances to reflect new standards for relocation assistance, notice periods and data about affordable housing impacts.
AB 2782 also increases municipal authority over local affordable housing stock.
Among its provisions, according to the state Assembly’s Housing and Community Development Committee, which reviewed the measure during its progression through the legislature, AB 2782 “requires mobile home park owners … take steps to relocate or compensate mobile home park residents when a park is closing or being converted for a different use.”
SB 610 provides disaster assistance to tenants, mobile home owners, and renters by clarifying landlord responsibilities in the clean up of a damaged property, as well as providing relief regarding rent and mobile home park operations after a natural disaster. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the bill into law on Oct. 10.
Sonoma city leaders are not expected to take any action during Wednesday night’s meeting. They are expected to meeting again on the topic on Dec. 3, officials said.
City Council meets regularly at 6 p.m. on the first and third Wednesday of each month in City Council Chambers, 177 First St. West. The meetings are broadcast on Channel 27 and available for live streaming on the city’s CivicWeb portal.
