Residents urge Sonoma planning commission to update closure and conversion rules for mobile home parks

Speakers at the June 17 public comment period urged the Sonoma City Planning Commission to begin updating the city’s closure and conversion ordinance to protect mobile‑home residents from speculative closures and conversions.

Lynn Marie de Vincent, introduced as a city resident and representative of the Tri‑Park Committee, told the commission the committee represents three parks in the city — Pueblo Serena (a senior park with 127 homes), De Anza Moon Valley (an all‑age family park with 225 homes) and Sonoma Oaks (a hybrid park near Maxwell Village with about 50 rented spaces and 50 owner‑occupied homes). De Vincent said that combination represents “over a thousand residents” in Sonoma and that the parks are under the city’s rent‑stabilization ordinance and the city’s closure and conversion municipal code.

John Kyle, president of the Sonoma County Mobile Homeowners Association and a Pueblo Serena resident, asked the commission to start the process of updating the city’s closure and conversion ordinance now and referenced the Housing Element’s Program 11 (original completion date listed in materials as 2023, later changed to 2024). Kyle said the group provided a fact sheet and an attorney’s analysis and argued AB 2782 gives local governments the authority to adopt stronger local protections. "We're asking this commission to start the process of updating our ordinance so that it can serve as a real tool to protect our residents and our community," he said.

Anne Kolichidis, president of Sonoma Valley GSMOL (Golden State Manufactured Homeowners League), described statewide efforts and AB 2782’s intent, said Sonoma’s closure and conversion ordinance dates back to February 2004, and urged the commission to prioritize an update given recent closures and enforcement issues in nearby jurisdictions.

Caitlin Cornwall, representing the Sonoma Valley Collaborative, told the commission the parks provide one of the largest sources of unsubsidized affordable housing in Sonoma Valley and supported the proposed updates; she said roughly 2,400 people live in mobile‑home communities across the valley and about 1,000 in the city. Speakers requested staff and the commission begin drafting ordinance language that uses the protections available under AB 2782.

No formal action was taken at the meeting. Commissioners and staff did not adopt a motion to begin ordinance drafting during the public comment period; the speakers’ request was recorded in the public record and could be agendized as a future action request to staff. Community Development Director Jennifer Gates indicated elsewhere in the meeting that staff can place items on future agendas and noted funding and consultant work on historic resource evaluations would occur if the budget is approved.