Westminster : Planners Delay Decision on Mobile Home Law

The city Planning Commission has delayed a decision on modification of the city’s strict mobile home park conversion law until the members can compare the law to those in other cities.

Members requested more background information on the issue because they were not on the commission when the ordinance was adopted in 1983, according to Planning Department Director Don Vestal.

They also want to see what provisions nearby cities offer to renters when a park owner is going to convert his land, Vestal said. The City Council, which repealed the mobile home park rent control law in March, 1985, has asked the commission to make recommendations on changing the conversion ordinance.

Under the city law, park owners must relocate tenants to a comparable park or buy their coach at fair market value. A state law which went into effect Jan. 1 requires park owners to provide “reasonable” compensation to renters when a park is converted into another use.

Park owners say the city law goes beyond the state requirements and makes conversions economically impossible. According to some park owners, buying coaches at fair market value as required by the city law is much more expensive than relocating renters.