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Cotati City Council
Agenda Staff Report
Item type: PUBLIC HEARINGS (ACTION)
To: City Council
Subject: INTERIM URGENCY ORDINANCE PROHIBITING THE CONVERSION OF
SENIOR MOBILEHOME PARKS
Date: September 12, 2023
Written by: Damien O'Bid, City Manager
Recommendation
It is recommended that the City Council adopt an interim urgency ordinance to impose a moratorium on the conversion/change of any mobilehome park currently existing in the City from a park occupied primarily or exclusively by residents over the age of 55 years (Senior Residents) to a mobilehome park allowing residents of all ages and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.
Background
The City of Cotati currently has three mobilehome parks (Sierra Mobile Home Park, Countryside Mobile Home Park and Ramble Creek Mobile Home Park). Countryside Mobile Home Park is the only mobilehome park operated as a seniors-only housing community, as established through the park rules and regulations.
On August 4, the president of the Countryside Mobile Home Park reached out to the City, followed by several other concerned residents. On August 8, 2023, several residents came to the City Council meeting requesting that the City assist them to prevent the park from converting the park to an "all age" park. The concerns of the residents were that the change from senior to "all- age" will fundamentally change the character of the mobile home park and potentially result in low-income seniors losing their housing.
City staff followed up on the request and found that the Countryside Mobile Home Park (Owners) sent the mobilehome park owners (Residents) a "Notice of Meeting Regarding Proposed Amendment to Park Rules and Regulations", dated July 26, 2023. The notice also included a copy of the "Parks Proposed Rules and Regulations", and set the required meeting to consult over the proposed rule changes on August 10, 2023. The proposed changes, among other things, will remove the senior-only restriction and make the park an all-ages park. The August 10,2023 meeting was held by the Owners to meet the statutory "meeting and consultation" requirements prior to park rule changes (Civil Code 798.25(b)). If the August 10, 2023 meeting satisfies the meeting and consultation requirement under the civil code, the proposed park rule Packet Page 52 of M1t
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revisions will go into effect 6 months after the August 10, 2023 meeting (February 6, 2024).
Adopted City policies support the preservation of senior and low-income housing. In particular, the City's certified Housing Element (HE) finds that the, "... high cost of housing in the San Francisco Bay Area has made homeownership difficult for... seniors on fixed incomes." The certified HE further promulgated certain goals and policies to protect seniors, including Goal H- 4 Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing, to promote housing opportunities for all persons regardless of race, gender, age, marital status, ancestry, national origin, color, or sexual orientation and Goal H-3 Affordable, Attainable, & Accessible Housing, to expand affordable housing opportunities for lower income households and persons with special housing needs, including seniors, disabled persons, large households, and homeless persons and families, as well as Policy H-1.6 Encourage the preservation and maintenance of mobile home parks.
Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, the Fair Housing Act, prohibits age discrimination in housing. In 1988, the Housing for Older Persons Act amended the Fair Housing Act which created an exemption for housing for adults age 55 and over. In order to qualify for the "housing for older persons" exemption, a facility or community must comply with all the requirements of the exemption.
The "Housing for Older Persons" exemptions apply to the following housing:
1. Provided under any state or federal program that the Secretary of HUD has determined to be specifically designed and operated to assist elderly persons (as defined in the state or federal program);
2. Intended for, and solely occupied by persons 62 years of age or older; or
3. Intended and operated for occupancy by persons 55 years of age or older.
The 55 or older exemption is the most common of the three. In order to qualify for the "55 or older" housing exemption, a facility or community must satisfy each of the following requirements:
• At least 80 percent of the units must have at least one occupant who is 55 years of age or older; and
• The facility or community must publish and adhere to policies and procedures that demonstrate the intent to operate as "55 or older" housing; and The facility or community must comply with HUD's regulatory requirements for age verification of residents.
The "housing for older persons" exemption does not protect such housing facilities or communities from liability for housing discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, disability, or national origin.
Analysis/Discussion
The City is committed, through its General Plan Housing Element, to preserving the City's existing affordable housing stock and to maintaining housing for special needs groups like senior Packet Page 53of111
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citizens. (General Housing Element: Goal 1.) In contrast with other senior housing in the City, mobilehome parks provide seniors with independence and the ability to live in their own homes rather than in apartments or assisted living communities. Seniors-only mobilehome parks also provide seniors with the opportunity to live in a senior living community in a low-rise setting.
Changing seniors only mobilehome parks to all-age communities are likely to burden and irreparably harm senior citizens within the community. Many seniors are on a fixed income and moving to a non-age restricted community has the potential of affecting the rents that are paid at the park. Moreover, seniors may have purchased homes in these seniors-only housing communities because of and in reliance on the seniors only age restriction. In many instances, these mobilehomes cannot be relocated elsewhere because they are not motorized and are often older and unable to be moved without significant damage. Further, these seniors-only mobilehome parks give senior citizens a better quality of life, with the ability to live in a quieter community setting among others their own age.
Staff is recommending that the City Council adopt the interim urgency ordinance to prevent the conversion of the existing seniors-only mobilehome park to an all-age park while the City studies a permanent zoning ordinance. This ordinance will not result in any physical changes to the City of Cotati; rather, it merely helps to preserve the status quo. The following is an update on what other cities in California have done in order to address this issue and preserve their seniors-only mobilehome parks.
City of Yucaipa
In 2009, the City of Yucaipa adopted an ordinance amending its official land-use plan in order to create a new Senior Mobilehome Park Overlay District. This ordinance prohibited any of the 22 mobilehome parks in Yucaipa that operated with a seniors-only housing restriction from converting to all-age mobilehome park facilities. The owners of these mobilehome parks sued the City of Yucaipa alleging that the ordinance violated federal law by forcing them to discriminate on the basis of familial status and by interfering with their ability to aid or encourage families with children in the enjoyment of fair housing rights.
In 2012, the Ninth Circuit held that the City of Yucaipa's ordinance did not violate federal law.
The court held that the City was not preempted from creating an overlay district that restricted the age of certain mobilehome residents to 55 and above. Moreover, the court determined that the City did not discriminate in housing on the basis of familial status because the senior housing exemption applied. This court decision is consistent with a California Attorney General Opinion that was issued in 2004. Therefore, the City of Yucaipa was able to successfully preserve its housing stock for senior citizens and prevent the conversion of its seniors-only mobilehome parks from becoming all-age housing facilities.
City of Huntington Beach
In August of 2013, the City of Huntington Beach adopted an interim ordinance establishing a moratorium on the conversion of seniors-only mobilehome parks due to the lack of senior housing options in and around the City of Huntington Beach. In September of 2013, the City Packet Page 64 of 111
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Council extended the moratorium on the conversion of seniors-only mobilehome parks for an additional 7 months and 15 days.
In March of 2014, the City Council of the City of Huntington Beach adopted Ordinance No. 4019 amending the Huntington Beach Zoning and Subdivision Ordinance by adding a Senior Residential Overlay District. The City's ordinance noted that many of the residents living in these seniors-only mobilehome parks voiced their desires to continue living in detached housing.
Additionally, the ordinance cited the fact that mobilehome housing can provide seniors with more affordable housing options and in some instances are the only detached housing options that seniors living with a fixed budget can afford. The ordinance also cited the Ninth Circuit's decision in the case against the City of Yucaipa as support for its decision to adopt Ordinance No. 4019.
City of San Juan Capistrano
In February 2017, the City of San Juan Capistrano adopted a very similar urgency ordinance (Ord. 1044) to what is now before the Cotati City Council, to maintain the status quo while staff evaluated options to craft ordinance revisions to prevent the conversion of senior mobile home parks. Later that year, San Juan Capistrano adopted a Senior Mobilehome Park Overlay District, similar to Yucaipa and Huntington Beach.
Conclusion
By adopting an Interim Urgency Ordinance, it will temporarily preserve the status quo and prevent the City's existing seniors-only mobilehome park from being converted to all-age mobilehome park while the City studies a possible permanent zoning ordinance. For the purpose of the proposed urgency ordinance, senior-only mobilehome parks are parks that either have at least 80% of the spaces occupied by at least one residents aged 55 or older, or 100% of the residents aged 62 and older.
Financial Considerations
There is no direct financial impact to the City by imposing an urgency ordinance. However, rafting an updated ordinance is likely to take significant staff time, which may delay othe roiects currently in the Community Development workplan. Projects which were identified a higher priority for multiple City Councilmembers include:
• Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan Update
• Develop Objective Design Guidelines, "Plex"/SFD (SB9) Other City Council priorities in the Community Development workplan include:
• Santero Way Specific Plan/Zoning Update
• Implement Housing Administration Program
Update Digital Permit Management Software
• Monitor and Implement New State Housing Legislation
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• Post-Covid Economic Development Program
• General Plan Safety Element Update
Therefore, direction on relative priority from the City Council, presumably on the "other" priorities, is requested. Of these projects, from the staff perspective, the lowest priority discretionary project is the General Plan Safety Element Update.
Environmental Issues
This Interim Urgency Ordinance is not a project within the meaning of Section 15378 of the State of California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA") Guidelines, because it has no potential for resulting in physical change in the environment, directly or indirectly. The City Council further finds, under Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, Section 15061 (b)(3), that this Interim Urgency Ordinance is exempt from the requirements of CEQA in that the activity is covered by the general rule that CEQA applies only to projects which have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. This action is not subject to further environmental review as it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment.
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ORDINANCE NO. 922
AN UNCODIFIED INTERIM URGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF COTATI PROHIBITING THE CONVERSION OF SENIOR MOBILEHOME PARKS
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COTATI DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Findings and Determinations.
A. The City of Cotati ("City") has the obligation and power to plan and regulate the use and testimony.
B. The City's certified Housing Element (HE) finds that the, " ...high cost of housing in the San Francisco Bay Area has made homeownership difficult for....seniors on fixed incomes." The certified HE further promulgated certain goals and policies to protect seniors, including Goal H-4 Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing, to promote housing opportunities for all persons regardless of race, gender, age, marital status, ancestry, national origin, color, or sexual orientation and Goal H-3 Affordable, Attainable, & Accessible Housing, to expand affordable housing opportunities for lower income households and persons with special housing needs, including seniors, disabled persons, large households, and homeless persons and families, as well as Policy H-1.6 Encourage the preservation and maintenance of mobile home parks.
C. In comments received prior to the City Council meeting and during the public comment portion of the City Council meeting on August 8, 2023, numerous residents of the Countryside Mobile Home Park informed the City Council of apparent efforts by the park owners and management to convert the park from its current senior only occupancy to an all-age park. Specifically, the residents testified that park management recently proposed updated park rules to implement the change to an all-age park, fundamentally changing the character of the park and driving seniors out of the park, which would destabilize them socially and economically.
D. Following the August 8, 2023 City Council meeting, City staff received copies of the existing park rules and the proposed park rules, verifying that the proposed park rules will eliminate the current senior mobilehome park restriction (at least 1 occupant in each home must be 55 years old or older), to go into effect 6 months after the "meeting and consultation" between the park owner and the park homeowners (CA Civil Code, 798.25(b)), which appears to have occurred on August 10, 2023.
E. The City Council wishes to consider implementing zoning amendments that would protect senior housing in mobilehome parks and desires to impose a temporary prohibition on land use actions that would result in conversion of senior mobilehome parks.
F. The purpose of this Interim Urgency Ordinance is to prevent the conversion of existing senior mobilehome parks to other uses while the City develops said zoning amendments.
G. This Ordinance is an interim urgency ordinance adopted as an urgency measure pursuant to Government Code Section 65858 and is for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, safety and welfare. The City Council hereby finds that the conversion of existing senior mobilehome parks to other uses would create a current and immediate threat to the public welfare by potentially causing displacement and changing the character of existing senior communities, which conditions are exacerbated by the fact that mobilehome owners rent space in mobilehome parks and have few choices for moving their mobilehomes.
H. In addition, the City Council finds that, on the basis of the whole record and exercising its independent judgment, this Ordinance is not subject to environmental review pursuant to the State Guidelines for Implementation of the California Environmental Quality Act Sections 15060(c)(2) and 15060(c)(3) pertaining to activities that will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect change to the environment and that are not defined as a project under Section 15378. This Ordinance has no potential for resulting in physical change to the environment directly or indirectly in that it prevents change to the environment pending the completion of the contemplated research and studies.
I. The City Council further finds, under Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, Section 15061 (b)(3), that this Ordinance is nonetheless exempt from the requirements of CEQA in that the activity is covered by the general rule that CEQA applies only to projects which have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment.
Where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment, the activity is not subject to CEQA. In addition, this action to adopt an urgency ordinance to limit the conversion of senior-only mobile homes parks within the City, and directing staff to research implementation of a permanent ordinance is found to be in keeping with the goals policies, programs of the City's adopted and certified 2023 Housing Element, and its adopted Mitigated Negative Declaration.
J. The City Council hereby declares that should any section, paragraph, sentence, phrase or term of this Ordinance, hereby adopted, be declared for any reason to be invalid, it is the intent of the City Council that it would have adopted all other portions of this Ordinance irrespective of any such portion declared invalid.
SECTION 2. Interim Prohibitions Adopted.
In accordance with the authority granted to the City Council under Government Code Section 65858 from and after the date of this ordinance:
A. Notwithstanding anything in the Cotati Municipal Code to the contrary, it shall be unlawful to convert a senior mobilehome park to any other use. "Senior mobilehome park" shall mean a mobilehome park in which the mobilehome park's rules and regulations as of the date of this Ordinance's enactment restrict tenancy to at least one person who is fifty-five years of age or older; or at least eighty percent of the spaces are occupied by, or intended for occupancy by, at least one person who is fifty-five years of age or older, or in which one hundred percent of the spaces are occupied or intended for occupancy by persons sixty-two years of age or older.
SECTION 3. Effective Date.
This Ordinance shall take effect immediately upon reading in full and passage by a 4/5ths vote of the City Council in accordance with Government Code Section 65858. This Ordinance shall remain in effect for a period of forty-five (45) days unless extended as provided under Government Code Section 65858. The City Manager and City Attorney are directed to take all actions necessary or convenient to study, prepare, schedule public hearings, and present to the City Council permanent regulations to implement the intent of this Ordinance.
IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that the foregoing ordinance was duly adopted at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Cotati held on September 12th, 2023, by the following vote, to wit:
RESULT: ADOPTED [UNANIMOUS|
MOVER: Kay Rivers, Councilmember
SECONDER: Sylvia Lemus, Councilmember
AYES: Harvey, Sparks, Ford, Lemus, Rivers
Attest: Kevin Patter
Kevin Patterson, Deputy City Clerk
Approved as to form:
John Bakker, City Attorney
This document is a true and correct copy of Ordinance Number 922and has been published or posted pursuant to law. California Government Code § 40806
Kun Patter
Kevin Patterson, Deputy City Clerk