Uncertain Future at Treasure Island : Tenants of Beachfront Mobile-Home Park Fear Ouster Despite Offer of Lease

Connie Vlasis watched the bright, afternoon sun turn the whitecaps off South Laguna Beach into diamonds of light, while small sailboats with multicolored sails bobbed in the ocean.

But the vista from the bay window of her trailer in the Treasure Island Mobile Home Park had no soothing effect for Vlasis on Friday.

The uncertain future of the 52-year-old trailer park worries her and the other residents who tried and failed to buy it this summer as a protection against its closure. Now, the residents said, they are in heated negotiations over a proposed 10-year lease with the man who did succeed in buying the 27-acre park.

Residents fear rent increases and are angry that their new landlord, Richard A. Hall, a Costa Mesa developer, eventually wants to build 66 million-dollar homes and condominiums on the picturesque bluff that sits between South Coast Highway and the rocky shoreline.

Hall, who owns eight other trailer parks, including ones in San Juan Capistrano and Dana Point, bought the South Laguna Beach property in August for $43 million, a figure that resident leaders said they had offered the former owner, who rejected the offer.

“I just hope that the city people can do something to help us here,” said Vlasis, who is treasurer of the Treasure Island Residents Assn.

In fact, protection for the 266 residents who live at the mobile-home park may be imminent. A proposed city ordinance would prohibit development in any of the three mobile-home parks in the city.

After 150 Treasure Island residents packed a Planning Commission study session last week, the commissioners also decided to recommend a six-month moratorium on rent increases and that rent control be added to the proposed mobile-home zoning ordinance.

The proposed new ordinance is one of a dozen zoning changes that the city has been considering since it annexed South Laguna Beach in December, 1987, city officials said.

The zoning changes to conform to longtime city standards are required by law and must be in place by the end of the year, Planning Department officials said.

A public hearing on the proposed ordinance is scheduled by the Planning Commission on Oct. 11, said Commissioner Wayne L. Peterson.

Although the ordinance is not related to the trouble that has been brewing at Treasure Island over the past year, city officials said they are concerned about residents’ fears that they will be forced out of the trailer park through steep rent increases.

Hall said he was surprised to learn of the proposed ordinance, which could stymie his development plans.

“I didn’t hear about it until three weeks ago,” Hall said from his office in the trailer park.

He said he would challenge the legality of the zoning ordinance if it is passed. He also criticized city officials for proposing the rent moratorium and rent control, saying his lease could offer residents more protection than city-ordered rent controls.

The 10-year lease would guarantee residents their lot spaces and would increase rent 20% for the first year and 7% each year for the remainder of the agreement.

The lease also would include an offer by Hall to pay each trailer owner an amount equal to the current appraised value of the owner’s trailer. The owners would still keep their homes.

Another provision of the lease would guarantee senior residents a low-cost condominium after development, Hall said. Those on fixed incomes would have no rent increase for the next 10 years, he said.

Seniors now make up about 45% of the mobile-home community. “What we gave is a generous offer to the residents here,” Hall said. “We are negotiating in good faith, and I feel we are making progress.”

But some residents are unmoved by Hall’s assurances.

“This is my home,” said Maxine Schade who bought her mobile home two years ago and plans to retire soon. “I can’t move my trailer anywhere else around here.”

“He plans to evict us economically,” said Kim Bailey, who owns two mobile homes in the park. “I can’t afford those type of rent increases.”