Staff outlines mobile‑home ordinance, rent‑control rules, petition process and new online filing system

City staff gave an orientation to the Rohnert Park Rent Appeals Board on the city's mobile‑home ordinance, petition procedures and recent administrative upgrades.

Staff said the city has five mobile‑home parks with a total of 1,317 spaces; 1,194 of those spaces were reported as subject to rent control in 2024. The mobile‑home ordinance, approved by voters in 1987, sets the baseline rent, ties the annual general adjustment to the August Consumer Price Index and includes a statutory 4% cap on any annual increase.

Jenna, who led the presentation, explained the AGA calculation and said the example shown in staff materials resulted in a 1.9% AGA after the formula's rounding rules and the ordinance's 0.5 percentage‑point subtraction. Jenna noted the ordinance’s cap: "So the maximum that it can ever increase regardless of what inflation ends up being is 4%."

Staff described two petition types: owner (landlord) petitions — for example to claim an insufficient return based on net operating income — and resident petitions to challenge improper increases or ordinance noncompliance. Staff said applications require supporting documentation; park owners must deposit funds to cover staff, attorney and hearing‑examiner review costs and staff will bill against that deposit. A hearing examiner issues an initial ruling that may be appealed to the board.

On capital‑improvement pass‑throughs, staff and board members emphasized a 2019 rules change that requires owners to meet with residents and present project scope and costs before construction begins. "They've got to meet with the residents and let them know this is what we'd like to do," a member said; staff said evidence of that meeting is required for an application to be complete.

Administratively, staff reported that annual re‑registration of parks is moving to an online platform called City Data Services (CDS) so the city can verify rent rolls and compute AGA adjustments more efficiently. Staff are also inventorying approximately 20 boxes of historical board records for scanning and upload to the city's document system (Laserfiche). The city is rolling out official city email accounts for board members to reduce disclosure of personal accounts in public‑records requests; IT staff offered help with account setup and password resets.

Staff asked members to respond to a doodle poll by April 18 about scheduling a required Brown Act training; the board also discussed the ethics training and Form 700 filing requirements.

Staff indicated the resident petition filing fee is "about $50" at intake and that the board covers subsequent resident petition costs; staff also said they will confirm and publish the exact fee amount.

The presentation concluded with a reminder that the board will set the fiscal‑year budget at its May meeting and continued administrative support from staff for onboarding and compliance questions.