Council acts on mobile home parks, vacation rentals

Tighter controls on mobile home parks and vacation rentals were advanced Wednesday night in two different votes by the Sonoma City Council. Both measures will now be drafted as resolutions for future consideration and vote.

The council unanimously called for a “Mobile Home Park Overlay Zone,” which could be used to prohibit a park owner from changing the minimum age of tenants. Currently the city’s three parks, with a total of 474 units, are adults (55+) only.

Several residents, including members of the park’s tenant association, told the council that the owner of the Rancho de Solano mobile home park has threatened to make it an “all age” property. That would destroy the peaceful setting and sense of community unique to an all-senior campus, they said, and possibly lead to higher, unaffordable rents. “We need to protect our senior citizens and the affordable housing stock,” said one man.

As the measure moves forward, council member Joanne Sanders urged open communication between owners and the park association. “We must make sure all voices are heard.”

Also at Wednesday’s meeting, the city council decided by a 3-2 vote that any new vacation rental structure must be eligible for the California historical registry. An earlier provision to establish a minimum length stay had been removed prior to the reading.

The change would tighten the current requirement, that the structure must have some historical significance. It would also stipulate that the structure is at a certain level of disrepair, with the rental income then designated to fund those repairs. The change emphasizes property improvements, rather than tourist dollars, as the primary economic incentive.

“It’s a means of allowing restoration while preserving the historic quality of the neighborhood,” said council member Steve Barbose, who voted with council members  Laurie Gallian and Ken Brown to advance the ordinance.

Opposed were Sanders and council member August Sebastani. “We already have a system in place,” Sanders said, arguing that the total of five approvals in the last four years does not suggest the need for tighter rules. “The system is working fairly well as it is.”