NEWPORT BEACH : Bonds Urged to Buy Bayside Village Park

In their efforts to claim the ground they live on, the senior citizens of Bayside Village mobile home park will be asking the City Council to help them buy the land if they cannot afford to do it alone.

Help, according to Bil Gekas, a resident and head of the Bayside Village Homeowners Assn.’s Park Purchase Committee, could come in the form of assessment district bonds.

The City Council will discuss the possibility of issuing the bonds at an upcoming study session. Gekas said two mortgage companies and a bank have offered loans and that the city bonds may not be necessary. “We’re not begging for money from the city,” Gekas said. “It’s a matter of having all the options covered.”

“We’re just exploring certain ways that the city could help them keep low-cost housing,” Mayor Phil Sansone said. “Some of these people have their life savings invested in their mobile homes and . . . we’re in favor of helping if we can find a way to do it.”

The mobile home owners are currently negotiating with the Irvine Co. to buy the land beneath their trailers. DeAnza Group Inc., a Beverly Hills real estate management company, also is negotiating for the 54-acre park with the Irvine Co. DeAnza has a lease from the Irvine Co. for the property until the year 2013, and is the landlord to the mobile home tenants.

Until last month, the Irvine Co. denied the Bayside Village residents a chance to bid for the property, but after a public outcry decided to negotiate with the tenants as well as with DeAnza, with which it had almost reached an agreement last month.

“If all things are equal,” said Larry Thomas, senior vice president of corporate communications for the Irvine Co., “we would prefer to reach an accommodation with the residents.” The Bayside Village Homeowners Assn. has not submitted a proposal to the Irvine Co. yet, he said.

Pat Greenbaum, a resident in the mobile home park, said her neighbors are excited about buying the land because it would represent long-term security for them.

Speaking of the tenants’ prospects, Gekas said: “So far, so good. The ducks are starting to line up. I really feel we will end up buying the land.”

DeAnza officials could not be reached for comment Wednesday.