Mobile‑home park residents urge Santa Rosa to write enforceable anti‑displacement protections

At the planning commission meeting, multiple residents and tenant organizers testified about deteriorating conditions and rising costs at mobile‑home parks in South Santa Rosa and in county unincorporated areas. Speakers said recent ownership changes have led to maintenance declines, tree removals and sudden rent increases, and they urged the commission to adopt concrete measures to preserve affordable units.

Patrick McDonald, identified himself as a housing‑team supervisor with Legal Aid, urged the commission to include protections such as a park‑closure ordinance, stronger just‑cause eviction rules and a tenant registry to track changes. “...adoptando una causa justa de protección de desalojo,” he said, recommending policy tools that go beyond plan‑level goals. Tenant organizer Lina Blanco and other residents confirmed local outreach efforts and described families facing immediate housing instability; one speaker said a sale to an out‑of‑state company prompted a sharp decline in maintenance and a doubling of managers’ demands.

Staff responded that many mobile‑home parks fall under Sonoma County jurisdiction, that staff will coordinate with county representatives, and that anti‑displacement goals are intended to inform later policy and implementation work; staff did not adopt specific ordinances at the hearing. Commissioners repeatedly pressed staff for more numerical detail and for draft policy language during the plan’s implementation steps.

Why it matters: Mobile‑home parks in the planning area provide a form of lower‑cost housing for older and low‑income residents; advocates said without enforceable protections the plan’s long‑term benefits could come at the cost of involuntary displacement. The commission encouraged continued public engagement and asked staff to bring concrete implementation proposals back to the commission.