ORDINANCE NO. 2026-1582
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF SAN MARCOS, CALIFORNIA, ADDING CHAPTER 20.270 TO THE SAN MARCOS MUNICIPAL CODE AND AMENDING THE ZONING MAP TO ESTABLISH A SENIOR MOBILEHOME PARK OVERLAY ZONE OVER THE SEVEN EXISTING NON-RESIDENT-OWNED SENIOR MOBILEHOME PARKS IN SAN MARCOS, AND FINDING THAT SAID AMENDMENTS ARE EXEMPT FROM REVIEW UNDER THE CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT TA24-0005
City of San Marcos
WHEREAS, the City of San Marcos (“City”) General Plan Housing Element includes policies and goals for senior oriented development, and establishes the City’s objective to maintain housing for special needs groups, such as seniors, as well as provide additional housing for senior residents; and WHEREAS, affordable senior rental housing in the City of San Marcos is insufficient, senior-oriented housing accounts for only 5.8% of the City’s total housing stock – 2,024 units out of 34,817. This significant disparity demonstrates a clear dearth of housing options available to the City’s senior population; and WHEREAS, according to the California Department of Finance, the share of people in the 55 and older age group is anticipated to continue to grow in the decades ahead, projected to increase by 12.5% from 2020-2050 and comprising almost 40% of the population in San Diego County by 2050; and WHEREAS, housing vulnerability due to high cost of living is particularly egregious in the City of San Marcos, a high cost of living city; and WHEREAS, as of August 2026, the average rent in the City of San Marcos for a two-bedroom unit was $2,953; and WHEREAS, as of 2019, 483 senior households in the City of San Marcos are below the poverty level when the median income of households aged 65 and older is $57,054, significantly less than the overall median household income of $80,814; and WHEREAS, a significant number of mobile home park residents in the City of San Marcos are senior citizens with fixed incomes, limiting their ability to maintain a dignified standard of living, respond to housing instability, or a financial crisis; and WHEREAS, according to the San Diego Regional Task Force on Homelessness, one in three people experiencing homelessness in San Diego County are age 55 and older; and WHEREAS, as noted in the above resource, seniors experiencing homelessness for the first time rose 5% in San Diego County in 2025; and WHEREAS, the new regulations are necessary to protect the public health, safety and welfare of the citizens of the City, particularly those tenants or residents who are over 55 years of age in mobilehome parks within the special needs group; and WHEREAS, senior restricted mobilehome parks are faced with the threat of converting those facilities to all-age mobilehome parks which would allow residents of any age to reside in that community, and such conversions to non-age restricted housing would result in the loss of existing predominantly senior only housing and would have detrimental impacts on the senior citizens of the community; and WHEREAS, mobilehome park conversions to non-senior housing results in a loss of existing senior only housing available within the City, and this loss of affordable senior housing in the City creates a threat to the health, safety and welfare of the seniors in the City; and
WHEREAS, mobilehome residents face unique hardship in finding alternative housing as relocation of a mobilehome coach is difficult or impossible, creating an acute reliance on the availability of an existing mobilehome rental space; and WHEREAS, in contrast to other senior housing in the City, mobilehome parks afford seniors the ability to live in their own homes rather than in apartments and provide a senior living community in a low-rise setting that typically provides a clubhouse for community events and socializing as well as recreational facilities inside the park so that residents can easily walk to these facilities and events; and WHEREAS, the decision to purchase mobilehomes in senior-only parks was often based on the understanding that these parks would only accept residents who meet the age requirement of being 55 years of age or older, which would be significantly changed were the park(s) in question to become all-ages parks; and WHEREAS, the existing amenities and services in the park may change or be reconfigured to cater to the needs of all-age residents and this could mean a reduction in amenities tailored to seniors, affecting their quality of life; and WHEREAS, some seniors may have chosen to live in a senior-only park because of health-related reasons and the stress or disruption caused by the conversion could potentially impact their health and well-being; and WHEREAS, the use of Civil Code Section 798.25 to convert senior mobilehome parks without the consent and despite the objections of the senior residents undermines the protections that seniors relied upon prior to entering into their existing leases in the self-designated senior parks; and WHEREAS, it is essential to recognize the unique needs and vulnerabilities of senior citizens and to ensure that they are not subject to housing instability, and emotional distress due to sudden changes in park regulations; and WHEREAS, it is in the best interest of the City to protect the rights and quality of life of its senior residents, recognizing their contributions to the community and the importance of meeting their unique housing needs; and WHEREAS, the California Mobilehome Park Residency Law, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, and the Federal Fair Housing Act each recognize the need for and value of senior housing by expressly exempting facilities in which 80 percent of the units are occupied by at least one person who is 55 years of age or older from the requirement to rent to families with children; and WHEREAS, in enacting this ordinance, the City Council would rely on the City’s police power and home rule authority pursuant to Article XI, Sections 5 and 7 of the California Constitution to enact and enforce ordinances and regulations for the public health, safety, and welfare of the City and its residents; and WHEREAS, the Housing for Older Persons Act amendments to the Federal Fair Housing Act, 47 U.S.C.§3607(b), and the provisions of the implementing regulations set forth in the Code of Federal Regulations (24 CFR 100.304(b)(4)) and the Appendix thereto (64 Fed.Reg. 16331) provide that a senior housing facility or community includes a municipally zoned area and that an area zoned by a unit of local government as "senior housing" satisfies the intent requirement of the senior housing exemption from the provisions of the Fair Housing Act prohibiting discrimination based on familial status; and WHEREAS, the Federal Fair Housing Act, California Fair Employment and Housing Act, and California Mobilehome Park Residency law each legislatively permit local regulation of mobile home park housing to provide "housing for older persons" to include housing that is restricted to occupancy of at least 80 percent of units by at least one person who is age 55 or older; and WHEREAS, the California Unruh Civil Rights Act (California Civil Code Section 51 et seq.) allows establishment of mobile home housing that is age-restricted where such restrictions are consistent with the Federal Fair Housing Act and its subsequent amendments and existing implementing regulations; and WHEREAS, the City would intend that any ordinance enacted for the protection of housing for older persons be consistent with, comply with and implement the Federal Fair Housing Act as amended by the Housing for Older Persons Act and the California statues providing senior housing exemptions from statutes prohibiting restrictions in housing based on age and familial status; and WHEREAS, an ordinance would codify the City's intent to provide "housing for older persons," consistent with the Housing for Older Persons Act amendments to the Federal Fair Housing Act 42 U.S.C. §3607(b) and the provisions for implementation as set forth in the Code of Federal Regulations (24 CFR §100.304(b)(4)) and the Appendix thereto (64 Fed.Reg. 16331), which provide that a permissible senior housing facility or community includes a municipally zoned area, and which zone, when established, satisfies the "intent" requirement of the "housing for older persons" exemption from the provisions of the Fair Housing Act prohibiting discrimination based on-familial status; and WHEREAS, amendment of the San Marcos Municipal Code (“SMMC”) to add Chapter 20.270 establishing a senior mobilehome park overlay zone that would recognize and retain the existing use, does not propose a change in the same, and does not constitute a “project” as defined under section 15378 of the California Environmental Quality Act State Guidelines (CEQA Guidelines) set forth at California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Division 6, Chapter 3. Therefore, pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15060(c)(3), no environmental review is required. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the proposed actions contemplated hereunder qualify for an exemption pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15061(b)(3) because it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility of a significant effect on the environment.; and WHEREAS, the City has complied with noticing and other requirements for zoning text amendments governed by Chapter 20.505 of the SMMC and by California Government Code Section 65853; and WHEREAS, a public workshop was held on September 4, 2025, and was duly noticed and held in the manner prescribed by City of San Marcos Resolution 99-5208; and WHEREAS, on July 6, 2026, the Planning Commission of San Marcos recommended the CEQA determination, the proposed Text Amendment to the SMMC, and the Zoning Map Update, for adoption by City Council; and WHEREAS, the Planning Commission recommended a proposed Text Amendment for approval which included unique APN identifiers for each affected mobilehome coach; and WHEREAS, the Text Amendment has been modified to refer only to the underlying property APNs for each subject park and not the unique mobilehome coach APN identifiers, comprising the same boundaries of each mobilehome park, with no change to the mobilehome parks identified as being affected by the ordinance, and no changes to operational provisions of the ordinance having been made to the version considered by the Planning Commission .
NOW, THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of San Marcos, in accordance with the freedom accorded to charter cities generally, and by the Charter of the City of San Marcos, specifically, does ordain as follows:
The foregoing recitals are true and correct.
The project exemption (EX 25-042) from CEQA pursuant to 15061(b)(3) of the CEQA Guidelines is hereby approved.
The Text Amendment adding chapter 20.270 to the SMMC, as specified in Attachment A, is approved.
The Zoning Map identifying the mobilehome parks subject to the Senior Mobilehome Park Overlay Zone, included as Attachment B, is approved.
If any section, sentence, clause, or phrase of this Ordinance is determined to be invalid, illegal, or unconstitutional by a decision or order of any court or agency of competent jurisdiction, then such decision or order will not affect the validity and enforceability of the remaining portions of this Ordinance. The City Council declares that it would have passed and adopted the Ordinance, and each section, sentence, clause, or phrase thereof, regardless of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses, or phrases be declared invalid or unconstitutional.
This Ordinance shall be effective thirty (30) days following its adoption. Within fifteen (15) days following its adoption, the City Clerk shall publish this Ordinance of the title thereof, as a summary as required by state law.
The City Clerk shall certify to the passage of this Ordinance and cause the same to be published in accordance with the provisions of State Law in a newspaper of general circulation designated for legal notices publication in the City of San Marcos.
INTRODUCED at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of San Marcos held on the 8th day of September 2026; and PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of San Marcos held on the ___ day of September 2026, by the following roll call vote:
AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS:
NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS:
ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS:
ABSTAIN: COUNCILMEMBERS:
Rebecca D. Jones, Mayor
City of San Marcos
ATTEST: APPROVED AS TO FORM:
Phillip Scollick, City Clerk Helen Holmes Peak, City Attorney City of San Marcos City of San Marcos
Ordinance No. 2026-1582
TA24-0005
July 6, 2026