By Ann Colichidas
Have you ever wondered what life is like living in a 55-plus mobile home park?
If you ask just about anyone, I think they will say it’s all about the people, the sense of community and the security it brings. People know their neighbors and look after each other by giving rides, sharing food, a laugh or a hug. There is always someone around for those emergencies, big or small, and that includes park management. Good park managers are a real blessing.
A mobile home park is truly a unique situation whereby the homes are owned, but the individual site is rented. A homeowner may be making mortgage payments as well as paying the space rent. In addition, homeowners pay all utilities, including sewer, and have total responsibility for maintenance of their home and landscaping. Park management is responsible for the common areas, roads, and whatever amenities they have agreed to provide which may include a clubhouse, pool, spa, BBQ, laundry and recreation area.
Many of the clubhouses serve as community centers for formal and informal gatherings, parties, meetings, potlucks, entertainment or just a cup of coffee. Clubhouses are required by statute to be open for resident use during certain hours and the hours need to be posted. The clubhouse may include a community kitchen, a cozy fireplace, a big screen TV, tables and chairs for special events and a bulletin board. Maybe there is a piano, Bingo equipment, a pool table and, at one park in Santa Rosa, a full-size stuffed bear. Really.
Senior mobile home parks are particularly suited for aging in place. They offer a sense of security and safety within the boundaries of the community, and, they are often in close proximity to shopping, services and transportation.
The homes themselves are easily adapted, on a single level, typically with lots of built in storage, central heat/air conditioning and covered carport parking. Outdoor decks and covered porches are common and every home is allowed one storage shed.
Although the mobile home spaces vary in size and shape, there is always an opportunity for gardening. In our Sonoma climate, where everything grows in abundance, fruit trees abound – fig, apple, peach, pear, plum, lemon, persimmon – you name it. Gorgeous flowers, succulents, lettuce, tomatoes, beans, greens, eggplant, garlic, strawberries and squash eligible for the annual zucchini races.
Yard maintenance is an obligation written into the park rules, and management inspects regularly for compliance. Mobile home parks are governed by park rules-set by the owner and laid out in the rental agreement. Homeowners are allowed to have pets, although the size and number are detailed in the rules, and leashes are required for dogs while walking on park grounds. Neighbors help with pet-sitting and dog walking, and one homeowner group is working on creating a small dog park where pets can play off leash.
Homeowners invest time and energy into making community happen. The opportunities to volunteer are bound only by imagination. Some examples include contributing to the community newsletter; serving on the resident board or social committee; acting as a cul-de-sac captain; cooking up a weekly pancake breakfast; organizing to help neighbors with yard work; making sure those who are homebound are included in collective meals.
At one park, residents have created a “bank” where they collect and lend out durable medical equipment (DME) if someone needs a walker, wheelchair, shower chair or commode. At another park, every resident gets a cheerful phone call on their birthday from a gentleman that few have met but all know by the sound of his voice.
In Sonoma, many beloved institutions have benefited from the generosity of time and energy from park members. The list includes SOS, Vintage House, Pets Lifeline, the Visitors Center, FISH, Depot Museum, Sonoma Community Center, the Toscano Hotel, KSVY, the Sonoma Ecology Center and countless other community groups and places of worship.
Safety and security remain important considerations in senior mobile home parks, particularly in the aftermath of wildfires and other emergencies. Preparedness is essential, and although parks are required to have emergency plans on file, they often do not go far enough to address the physical safety or evacuation of residents and pets. Homeowners must take it upon themselves to have adequate supplies, and to join with their neighbors in establishing procedures for check-in and evacuation, with special attention to those identified as needing extra help. The establishment of emergency procedures can be a significant community building opportunity.
But the most important security issue may be the most urgent one, and that is housing security. Even before the fires, Sonoma housing was in high demand and short supply, and rents are skyrocketing. In the 1990s, mobile homeowners experienced rent increases that were unsustainable in their retirement years. With the support of the Sonoma City Council, rent stabilization for mobile homes was established. And, in 2015, the Council unanimously adopted a significant revision to the ordinance.
But that security now appears illusory, and a new Mobilehome Park Closure and Conversion Ordinance is before the City Council for a Study Session on August 19 at 6 p.m., in City Council Chambers at 177 First Street West.
Ann Colichidas is a member of the Pueblo Serena HOA Board of Directors. This article originally appeared in the Sonoma Valley Sun in 2018.
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