WESTMINSTER : Mobile Home Law Changes Debated

After dozens of angry mobile home residents showed up to protest proposed changes in the mobile home conversion ordinance, the City Council this week voted to continue public hearings on the matter.

Mission del Amo Mobile Home Park residents were notified in June that the park owners were considering converting the property, although the owners have not decided what they will do with the land. With rising land values in the city and the county, residents of the 17 other parks in Westminster fear that they too will be forced to relocate sooner or later.

The City Council has held a number of study sessions with mobile home park residents, but the residents on Tuesday accused the council of not doing enough to ensure adequate compensation for mobile home residents who would be forced to move if their park is converted.

“The proposed revision is not in the best interests of the residents,” said Stan Hirsch, speaking on behalf of the almost 200 members of the Mission del Amo Mobile Home Park. “We want to meet with all involved. . . . We want fair compensation.”

Proposed changes to the ordinance include:

* Increasing the allowance for temporary housing for those relocating from $75 to $125 a day;

* Increasing the period during which the homeowner is entitled to the payment from two weeks to 30 days;

* And giving a homeowner one year instead of six months after the granting of a conversion permit to remove his or her mobile home without risk of losing that compensation.

“We can’t do everything at one time,” Councilman Craig Schweisinger said, responding to residents’ criticism. “We do a few things, and a few more things.”

One thing is certain, no one is happy with the ordinance, said Vickie Talley, executive director of the Manufactured Housing Educational Trust, which represents mobile home park owners throughout Orange County.

“The park owners feel it is too restrictive; the residents say it’s not restrictive enough,” she said.

Another public hearing on the subject will be held at the next City Council meeting on April 13 at 7:30 p.m.