City to hire rent control consultant

Eron Ben-Yehuda

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- After years of complaining about the rising cost of

land leases, residents living in mobile home parks won a small victory

Monday when the City Council agreed to hire a consultant to study the

need for rent control.

The council’s decision, approved by a 5-0 vote with Mayor Dave Garofalo

and Councilwoman Pam Julien absent, offered hope to Pauline Robison, who

lives in Rancho del Rey, one of the city’s 18 mobile home parks.

Many of the 5,000 park residents in the city are widows and veterans on

fixed incomes, she said.

“Maybe we’ll get some action,” she said. “We’re kind of at a standstill.”

The average lease for a local mobile home parcel is about $515 per month,

said Steve Gullage, president of the Huntington Beach Mobile Homeowners

Assn., which represents 800 members. Gullage said new homes cost between

$40,000 and $75,000, but the homes already in the parks are so varied

that he can’t estimate their average value.

Although $515 is the average amount charged for mobile home land leases

throughout the county, Gullage said it’s too much.

“Four hundred and fifty dollars [per month] would be a fair average that

would give everybody a pretty good break,” he said.

With apartment renters paying about $1,000 per month, park residents have

nothing to complain about, said Vickie Talley, executive director of the

Orange-based Manufactured Housing Educational Trust, a nonprofit trade

association of park owners and service companies.”They have the best

bargain in the city,” she said.

Gullage said you can’t compare his group to apartment renters who don’t

buy their homes or pay for upkeep.

There are already rental assistance programs available for those who

truly need help, said Jim Jones, manager of Huntington By The Sea.

“It’s not for those who just want a break,” he said.

A rent control ordinance would result in park owners spending less money

on improvements to common areas that include pools, clubhouses and yards,

he said.

“Free enterprise is wonderful,” he said.

Councilman Ralph Bauer shares Jones’ concern, saying the benefits of rent

control are “pretty iffy.”

But all of the council members present agreed they need more information,

which a consultant could provide, before making any decisions.

City staff will present consultant candidates for the council to choose

from in 60 to 90 days, said David Biggs, the city’s director of economic

development. Biggs said he expects the study to cost between $40,000 and

$100,000.