HUD Probes San Marcos Mobile Home Rules

Allegations that the city of San Marcos is violating a federal fair-housing law because it is blocking the admission of children into the city’s mobile home parks is being investigated by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The complaint was filed by an attorney for the Rancheros Mobilehome Park which, he claims, is being denied the right to accept children because the city is requiring the park owner to win approval for an amended special use permit.

The attorney, J. Michael Walters, claims the park owner is simply trying to abide by federal law changes last year that prohibited adult-only parks and required that they accept families as residents.

The park owner, John Weersing, began accepting families with children earlier this year and was sued by the city of San Marcos in August. The lawsuit contained several complaints against Weersing, including that he had begun accepting children without first amending his special use permit at City Hall.

“We’re simply complying with federal law and, in doing so, we’ve been sued by the city,” Walters said Friday.

City officials say virtually every mobile home park in San Marcos was designed for adults only, and none has the amenities, including playgrounds and open space, to accommodate children. The City Council formed a task force in the wake of the new federal law to recommend what amenities family parks should offer, said City Manager Rick Gittings. Once those guidelines are adopted, parks wanting to accept families can apply for special use permit modifications allowing the admission of children by abiding by the city’s guidelines for family amenities.

“These requirements are no different than ones we’d require for owners of apartments or other multiple-family dwelling units,” Gittings said. “The federal law is as clear as mud because it didn’t provide anybody with a clear direction on how to accommodate families in parks that were designed for adults. The city is simply trying to preserve our authority in land use to address the problems of adult parks converting to family parks.”

Gittings said all of owners of mobile home parks in the city were asked to delay any conversion to family parks until the city’s guidelines can be amended, and only Weersing “jumped the gun.”

The city responded with the lawsuit, and Weersing responded by complaining to HUD, which investigates alleged violations of federal fair housing laws.

Irving Himelblau, a HUD spokesman in San Diego, said Friday that his office had “just commenced” the investigation into the allegations, which will be turned over to the regional office in San Francisco for disposition.