Report to Mayor and City Council
Tuesday, January 14, 2020
Discussion
SUBJECT:
Title
CONSIDERATION OF RESOLUTION NO. 20-018 SUPPORTING ASSEMBLY BILL NO. 705 RELATING TO PROTECTIONS FOR RESIDENTS DISPLACED BY MOBILE HOME PARK CLOSURES (CITY COUNCIL)
Body
I. SUMMARY
This item is on the Agenda at the request of Councilmember Jawane Hilton to Mayor Albert Robles.
The City Council wishes to ensure the maximum possible protection under the law for its residents living in mobile home parks, including with respect to the rights and benefits afforded to residents displaced by mobile home park closures. On that topic, Assembly Bill No. 705 was introduced in the State Assembly in 2019. The bill as introduced would greatly strengthen protections for mobile home park residents affected by park closures. However, the bill stalled in the Assembly in 2019, and as such has become a two-year bill that will need to be modified to preserve the potential for passage of its essential protections into law by the end of the 2019-2020 legislative session.
Adoption of the proposed resolution would: (1) formally express the City Council’s support for Assembly Bill No. 705; and (2) direct City staff and the City Attorney’s office to be actively involved in the legislation, and to commit all necessary efforts and resources to ensuring the legislation is revived and passed in a form that provides the maximum possible protections for City residents of mobile home parks.
II. RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
TAKE the following action:
1. ADOPT Resolution No. 20-018, A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CARSON, CALIFORNIA, SUPPORTING ASSEMBLY BILL NO. 705, WHICH WOULD STRENGTHEN PROTECTIONS FOR RESIDENTS DISPLACED BY MOBILE HOME PARK CLOSURES.
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III. ALTERNATIVES
1. TAKE another action the City Council deems appropriate, subject to the requirements of applicable law.
IV. BACKGROUND
There are more than 20 mobile home parks in the City of Carson, including multiple parks which are subject to threatened closures by the park owners. Existing state law is unclear as to the protections that can be afforded to mobile home park residents displaced by park closures, such as the relocation benefits that a local agency can require a park owner to provide. Any legislation strengthening and clarifying those protections would be in the best interest of all mobile home park residents, including those residing in the City of Carson.
Assembly Bill No. 705 was introduced in the State Assembly by Assemblyman Mark Stone in early 2019. Among other things, the bill as introduced would: (1) require the person proposing the closure to file a report on the impact of the park closure that includes a replacement and relocation plan that adequately mitigates the impact of the closure on displaced residents of the mobile home park; and (2) provide that the local legislative body, in approving any such report, shall require the person proposing the closure to provide sufficient mitigation assistance to enable each displaced resident to obtain and relocate into adequate housing in another mobile home park. The bill would establish a minimum standard for local regulation of park closures and would not prevent a local agency from enacting more stringent measures.
However, Assembly Bill 705 did not pass the Assembly in 2019. Instead, it stalled in an Assembly committee and was never put to a final vote. The bill in its current form is not expected to meet the resulting deadline of January 31, 2020 to pass the Assembly, nor will there be an attempt to do so by Assembly Stone or the bill’s co-sponsors. Instead, a modified version of the bill is expected to be introduced in early 2020 with the aim of preserving the key purposes and protections of AB 705 while making revisions to facilitate its passage.
The purpose of the proposed resolution is to express the City Council’s support for Assembly Bill 705 and any successor legislation that protects the rights and benefits of mobile home park residents displaced by park closures, and to direct City staff and the City Attorney’s office to commit all necessary efforts and resources to ensuring that such legislation is passed in a form that provides that maximum possible protections to the residents of the City’s mobile home parks.
V. FISCAL IMPACT
None.
VI. EXHIBITS
1. Resolution No. 20-018 (Pg. 4-5).
Prepared by: City Attorney's Office