Santa Maria city leaders have approved an ordinance creating a Senior Mobile Home Park Overlay District, a move officials say could help protect 55-plus communities from being converted into all-age parks and provide greater stability for senior residents.
The Santa Maria City Council voted unanimously, 5-0, on Aug. 4 to approve the ordinance.
If given final approval, the overlay district would apply to five senior mobile home parks in the city including Rancho Buena Vista, Casa Grande, Casa Del Rio, La Maria and Trail Rancho. Together, the parks have more than 1,000 units.
Santa Maria Community Development Director Chenin Dow said the goal is to ensure all senior and non senior residents have stability.
“I think the most important thing for our council on this was really to create stability for our senior residents,” Dow said. “That ensures that people who are buying into a senior park that’s age 55-plus get to stay in a senior park that’s 55-plus.”
Under the proposed zoning regulations, park owners seeking to convert one of the designated senior communities into an all-age park would have to go through a public approval process to change the zoning designation.
“Under the new ordinance, people would have to go through the process in order to change the existing zoning with the overlay into an all-ages park,” Dow said.
The ordinance has faced opposition from mobile home park owners and the Western Manufactured Housing Communities Association, which represents manufactured housing community owners and operators across California.
The association said the ordinance could limit park owners' flexibility.
“Up until the ordinance passed, park owners retained the flexibility to open their communities to all ages if market conditions or resident needs change,” said Jarryd Gonzales, a spokesperson for the association.
The association also argued the ordinance could further contribute to Santa Maria's affordable housing shortage.
"Lower income families who are not seniors and could otherwise purchase and occupy an affordable mobile home would not be eligible, further exacerbating the affordable housing shortage in Santa Maria," Gonzales said.
Dow said the city considered those concerns but emphasized that the ordinance is not intended to remove existing residents from their homes.
“We’re not going to be removing people from their homes in that situation,” Dow said. “That law does ensure that up to 20% of the units can actually be occupied by people who are not 55-plus.”
Under state law governing 55-plus communities, at least 80% of occupied units generally must have at least one resident who is 55 or older, allowing a portion of residents to be under 55.
Some residents said maintaining the age-restricted communities is important to preserving a sense of stability and community.
Maria Guadalupe Felix, a senior resident at La Maria Senior Home Park, said the mobile home community is an important option for people who may not be able to afford traditional rental housing.
"It’s very important to me," Felix said. "This is a community because many of us can’t afford to pay rent, so this is where we are.”
The ordinance will go before the Santa Maria Planning Commission for discussion on Aug. 19.
Final approval is expected in September. If approved, the city would move forward with adopting the new zoning regulations for the five identified senior mobile home parks.
