By Lynne Bronstein
Observer Reporter
The City Council took up the issue of mobile home park relocation at its meeting Monday night, with consideration of a draft RIR (Relocation Impact Report) for the Palms Mobile Home Lodge on Grand View Boulevard in Culver City.
Ultimately, the Council adopted the RIR with a unanimous 4-0 vote (council member Jim Clarke was absent).
The draft RIR was per a January 2012 ordinance amending the city’s municipal code to protect, and to further define, adequate replacement housing, mitigation efforts, and relocation costs to mobile home park residents.
The Palms Mobile Home Lodge was purchased in October 2013 by Grand View Development L.P., which plans to redevelop the property by building 36 townhome rental units including three “very low-income” units.
The municipal code requires that there must be mitigation measures for all residents of the mobile home park, to adequately address the adverse impacts of the change of use or closure upon “eligible occupants.” An eligible occupant is defined as “[a] mobile home owner residing in the mobile home on a full time basis and his/her ‘immediate family.’
Owners of mobile home park units often purchase their homes but must pay rent for the “pads” of land space they park the homes on.
Grand View had confirmed that 10 of the 11 mobile home owners qualified as eligible. According to Housing Director Tevis Barnes, nine of the owners have executed voluntary agreements regarding their relocation benefits. Thus, only one confirmed eligible occupant would be subject to the relocation assistance benefits specified in the Draft RIR, if approved by the City.
Several residents of the mobile home park took to the public comment microphone to express their frustration with the proposed RIR.
These residents, most of whom were elderly and/or immigrants to the U.S., explained that they were longtime residents at mobile home units they had purchased, and in one case, inherited, and they were apprehensive about being “pushed out.”
“The compensation is a joke,” said Adam Zucker, the resident who inherited his unit from his grandfather.
“This is low-income housing,” he added, referring to the low-income housing development planned by Grand View Development.
Other speakers claimed they were “bullied” and “threatened” into the “voluntary” agreements and had complaints about comments made by council member Mehaul O’ Leary during a private meeting with tenants and the city.
O’ Leary denied that he had said or done anything that could have been construed as offensive to the tenants.
The Council also declined to examine a request by the activist group Evolve to reduce the effects of the 1978 Proposition 13 tax initiative by removing Prop 13 benefits for all California commercial properties.
On a lighter note, the Council read a commendation to K-9 Officer “Boyca” on the occasion of his retirement. Boyca is a K-9 dog with the unit, who had served the police department for 14 years, helping to apprehend 20 violent offenders and make arrests in a number of narcotics cases. Boyca will be spending his retirement years in the care of a Culver City family. When the microphone was offered to him, Boyca said “Woof, woof, woof, woof” which translated as “thank you.”
Reader Comments(1)
N8Vine writes:
It's great to see Culver City partner with intelligent professionals to help move the neighborhood forward with projects like this. With the three schools and retirement complex in the immediate vicinity it makes sense to end the mobile home era in Mar Vista. I'd say 'woof' but would hate to be misinterpreted. Great job Boyca!
11/03/2014, 10:18 pm