http://www.insidebayarea.com/trivalleyherald/localnews/ci_14506736
Pleasanton, mobile home park owner settle $29.1 million suit
By Robert Jordan
Contra Costa Times
Posted: 03/03/2010 03:36:20 PM PST
PLEASANTON Five months after filing a $29.1 million dollar lawsuit against the city, the owner of a mobile home park and city council members apologized to each other for a near three-year ordeal that left residents of the park unsure about their fate.
Dan Guggenheim, owner of the Vineyard Mobile Villa, sued in October after the city denied his June 2007 application to sell the 208 rental spaces at the park to tenants.
After reaching a settlement with the city Tuesday, Guggenheim expressed regrets to the city and the tenants of the mobile home park for not communicating better during the process.
“I handled this issue very poorly with my residents,” Guggenheim said. “… I think we could have solved this many months ago if I had taken the time talking to you individually and answered some of the complaints and criticisms. For that I am sincerely sorry.”
Members of the council also offered their apologies for not communicating with Guggenheim and residents about his intentions for converting the park. The council then voted 5-0 to approve Guggenheim’s application to sell the lots, providing he follow a number of requirements.
The agreement was reached after several sit down meetings that began in December with Guggenheim, park residents, Mayor Jennifer Hosterman, council member Cindy McGovern, City Manager Nelson Fialho and former City Attorney Michael Roush.
As part of the agreement, the city agreed to pay Guggenheim $750,000 that must be used solely for capital improvements at the park. The city also set aside $1 million of its $13 million low-income housing fund to offer low-interest loans to current residents who may not be able to secure a traditional loan to help them buy the lots.
Other key components of the agreement include: conversion of the lots will not take place any sooner than Jan. 1, 2020; current rent stabilization is extended until 2017 and could be in place until 2022 depending on the Consumer Price Index; rent after the conversion would be determined by government code; current residents who decide to purchase their space after the conversion date would receive a 15 percent discount; and the park would remain a 55 and older community.
“Thank you for coming and talking to our city council members and to understand our concerns,” said mobile home resident Donna Wilkinson. “A lot of us are low-income and we were just scared. We didn’t know what was going to happen to us.”
The original application sought to offer for sale the 208 spaces at the mobile home park in the 3200 block of Vineyard Avenue. Under the conversion, current residents would have been given the opportunity to buy the lots their homes sit on for prices ranging from $100,000 to $200,000.
If residents chose not to buy, they would have been allowed to continue renting their spaces.
The council originally voted 5-0 to deny the application in part over concerns about what the conversion would do to the affordability for seniors living in the park.
“This process worked very well,” said Hosterman. “This is good governance and good policy.”
Robert Jordan covers Dublin and Pleasanton. Contact him at 925-847-2184.
AROUND CALIFORNIA - NEWS FOR OWNERS OF MOBILE/MANUFACTURED HOMES 