San Gabriel Valley : HOME SWEET HOME?
La Verne’s greatest asset is its people, says the city motto. But soon its assets will include a mobile home park.
Saying that it wants to maintain affordable housing for La Verne senior citizens, the City Council approved a bond issue this week to, among other things, buy one of the city’s eight mobile home parks.
The city will use about $6.5 million of a $9-million bond issue to purchase the 188-space La Verne Mobile Country Club on Moreno Avenue.
“Why can’t a city own a mobile home park? Governments own shopping centers,” said Councilman Thomas Harvey. “It’s not generally our business to be in business, but when there is a compelling public need, then we should be in business.”
He said residents of the park approached the city last year, raising concerns that the owner wanted to sell and a purchaser would probably raise rents and open the park to families. Once the city acquires the park, the residents, 80% of whom have low to moderate incomes, will run it in concert with a property management firm hired by the city, Harvey said.
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