Laguna Lifts Trailer Park Fee Freeze

Six months after freezing rents at the city’s three mobile home parks, the City Council voted Tuesday to lift the moratorium. As a result, residents of Laguna Beach’s three mobile home parks face rent increases as soon as today.

Worried residents who packed the council chambers expressed disappointment with the council’s 3-0 vote. Council members Robert F. Gentry and Martha Collison were absent.

“The city didn’t do one thing for the residents of Thurston Trailer Park,” said Sam Alessi, president of the homeowners association at the park. “We would have had that type of increase with their input or not.”

The vote followed a month of talks between city staff members and park owners, during which the city tried unsuccessfully to negotiate three agreements to regulate increases and offer relief to low-income senior citizens living in the parks.

Last month, the council endorsed a proposal from the owners of Treasure Island Trailer Park to allow a 7% rent increase for one year while freezing rents for low-income senior citizens. At the same time, the council extended until Tuesday a moratorium that has been in effect since December to allow city staff members time to seek a consensus with owners of the other two parks.

The Thurston owner agreed to accept a 6% increase but would not exempt senior citizens from the boost. The owner of Laguna Terrace Mobile Home Park agreed to rent increases of slightly more than 7% but would not commit to an agreement to exempt seniors, City Manager Kenneth C. Frank said.

Treasure Island residents were notified that if the moratorium was not extended, they could expect a 7% rent increase starting today. Thurston is expected to impose a rent increase in August, Frank said, but there is no word about whether Laguna Terrace plans to raise rents soon.

On Tuesday, the City Council followed Frank’s recommendation by approving the agreements with Treasure Island and Thurston and directed the city to negotiate with Laguna Terrace. Council members reserved the right to take further action on behalf of Laguna Terrace residents if an agreement is not reached within two weeks.

The moratorium was imposed as a result of the dispute between the residents and owners of Treasure Island, the largest park in the city. The 27-acre, oceanfront park was bought for $40 million in August by Merrill Lynch Hubbard and Costa Mesa businessman Richard Hall, who expect eventually to close the park to make way for other development.