CALABASAS : Mobile Home Park Rent Panel to Form

The Calabasas City Council is setting up a task force to study rent issues at the city’s only mobile home park.

About 210 families live at Calabasas Village Mobile Home Estates, said resident Reva Isaacman. Isaacman, a retiree, said she and many of her neighbors live on fixed incomes.

“My rent is totally at the park owner’s discretion,” Isaacman said. “People are afraid they won’t be able to pay the rent in the future.”

Most of the residents have leases of several years or more. A core group of residents have leases that expire in 1995, and are anticipating steep increases, she said.

Last month, residents asked the council to pass a rent-control or rent-justification ordinance, saying they feared hefty rent increases when their leases expire.

Rent-control ordinances affecting mobile home parks are fairly common, said City Manager Charles Cate. But he said the city wants to study the issue before acting.

The residents had some protection from rent increases under Los Angeles County codes, but when Calabasas became a city those protections were lost, she said.

The council voted to appoint two residents from the park, a representative for its owner and a member each from the Las Virgenes Homeowners Federation, the Planning Commission, the business community and the city’s Health and Wellness Advisory Committee to serve on the task force.

Cate said once the appointments are completed, the task force will be charged with issuing recommendations on how the council should proceed.

Park manager Joe Hicks declined comment.