Moon Valley residents urge Sonoma to include homeowner protections in mobile‑home parks ordinance update

Residents of Moon Valley Park and the Moon Valley Homeowners Association urged the Sonoma City Council on Nov. 19 to include homeowner protections in the city’s update of the closure‑and‑conversion ordinance.

Bonnie Joy Koslan, president of the Moon Valley HOA (public comment period), introduced two neighbors who spoke in Spanish and English. Edith Cortez said her family and many Spanish‑speaking neighbors had bought their manufactured homes with great sacrifice and asked the council to "adopt all the provisions recommended in the homeowners proposal" so residents could continue to live in the park. Karen Guadalupe Mendes Placencia (English translation) said Moon Valley is her home, that many residents work locally and that the updated ordinance should meet the legal requirements of AB 2782 while also including additional protections for homeowners who are financially and personally invested in the park.

John Kyle, another homeowner, urged the council to treat the ordinance update as a preemptive measure, warning that ownership changes can quickly alter park operations and citing disputes in other jurisdictions that followed delayed ordinance updates.

The council did not take immediate formal action on the homeowner requests at this meeting; the speakers asked staff and council to ensure the homeowners’ model provisions are considered as the ordinance proceeds through the planning and public‑hearing process. The study session on Nov. 5 was cited by speakers as prior work that identified key issues for the Tri Park Committee.

Next steps: city staff will continue the ordinance update process; residents asked for continued engagement and for the council to incorporate homeowners' language and AB 2782 requirements into the drafting and hearing schedule.