CAMARILLO : Trailer Park Renters Will Be Protected

The Camarillo Planning Commission on Tuesday modified conditions for the conversion of Rancho Adolfo Mobile Home Park into 254 sale lots so residents who don’t buy their lots will be protected from excessive rent increases.

“It protects everyone,” said park resident Andy Gabbard, who added that most of the park’s 380 residents support the changes.

Under the new conditions, low-income residents who choose to continue renting would be subject to rent increases no higher than the gain in the monthly Consumer Price Index. For those with middle or high incomes, rents could be raised to market value within four years.

The changes also allow low-income park residents to apply for low-interest loans from the state Mobilehome Park Resident Ownership Program and require that rent disputes be settled by binding arbitration rather than the city’s Rent Review Commission.

Without the Planning Commission’s approval of the new conditions, Gabbard said, “the low-income households may not have had the ability to buy their lots.” Before the vote, park resident Harry Barnes complained to the commission that the estimated lot prices--$51,095 to $68,645--are too high. He said resolving rent disputes by arbitration provides no protection.

About 150 park tenants attended the meeting to oppose a scaled-down version of a $1-million flood-control plan for Calleguas Creek, which runs near the park. Residents have said they don’t like the plan because it calls for a six-foot wall to be built along the length of the nine-hole golf course at the park, ruining the view for about 37 coaches and eliminating two of the golf holes.

City Planning Director Matthew A. Boden suggested that residents direct their complaints to the Ventura County Flood Control District. The city “is not in a position of waiving the flood-control requirements because it’s a public-health issue,” he said.