SAN CLEMENTE : Residents to Buy Mobile Home Park

After six years of work, a group of senior citizens seeking security from rising rents have closed a deal to buy the 191-space Shorecliffs Mobile Country Club.

The residents, a majority of whom are on fixed incomes, were aided by two state low-income homeownership loan programs worth about $1.2 million and a San Clemente Redevelopment Agency loan program worth $367,800 to help buy the space under their mobile homes.

Before buying the ocean-view park from the Del Prado Co., the residents were paying about $450 a month to rent space for their homes, said San Clemente attorney Gerald R. Gibbs, who helped arrange the sale. Sale prices of the spaces ranged from $64,000 to $88,000.

Only 11 spaces in the park remain for sale or are in the process of being sold, Gibbs said.

“We’re pleased that we now have control over our own homes,” said Ben Hetherington, president of the Shorecliffs Mobile Homeowners Assn. “There’s no rent control in San Clemente and the rent did go up each year.”

This was the first affordable housing project funded through a special Redevelopment Agency fund, city housing coordinator Leslie Davis said. About 20% of all property tax funds collected within the Redevelopment Agency area can only be used for affordable housing projects, Davis said.

About 57 households, in which the annual income ranges between $7,000 to $12,000, qualified for the city and state low-income loans. About 15 of those spaces have been reserved as low-income housing for a period of 15 years through the San Clemente loan program.

“This really was the first project submitted that had all the elements necessary to make it a success,” Davis said.