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Mobile-home residents urge Camarillo council to pass rent-stabilization ordinance with vacancy controls
Summary
Multiple residents told the council that park owners are raising lot rents sharply and urged adoption of a rent-stabilization ordinance with vacancy-control rules to protect senior and fixed-income homeowners; councilmembers said an emergency ordinance is pending and staff plan a council agenda item soon.
Several residents of Camarillo's mobile-home parks pressed the City Council on April 8 to adopt a rent-stabilization ordinance that includes vacancy-control protections to limit sharp increases in lot rents when homes change hands.
Diana Bradley, who said she attended a March 25 meeting expecting the ordinance to pass, described committee work by Councilmembers Santangelo and Martinez Bravo and said the committee presented verified statistics that, she alleged, show park owner IPG is raising land rents without regard for seniors and low-income families. “They raise their land rents without a care about their senior tenants, which I am one, and their lower-income and family tenants,” Bradley said.
Other speakers backed vacancy-control limits as a way to protect homeowners'equity. Jordan Blake noted that mobile-home parks house many fixed-income seniors and recommended a graduated vacancy increase (for example, 0% the first year then rising incrementally) to prevent single-time increases of 20% to 50% when a home sells. Shirley Edwards, a park resident, said her lease expires this year and that she is concerned about being priced out.
DVO Brown and others told the council the existing draft ordinance stresses return-on-investment language for park owners but has not clearly addressed homeowners'return; Brown urged the council to consider both sides. Speakers repeatedly estimated that about 500 homeowners in Camarillo could be affected by the proposed ordinance and compared possible vacancy-control approaches to those used by Ventura County and neighboring cities.
Council members said staff are working to bring the matter back for council consideration before an emergency ordinance expires later in April; Vice Mayor Martinez Bravo and Councilmember Santangelo noted ongoing ad hoc committee work and promised follow-up. The city manager told the council the emergency ordinance expiration is around April 20 or 21 and staff are preparing agenda material.
The remarks were offered during the public-comment period and did not constitute formal action by the council on April 8.
