{"id":2931,"date":"2014-02-22T15:39:03","date_gmt":"2014-02-22T23:39:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bpapaloalto.org\/newbpa\/?p=2931"},"modified":"2014-02-22T15:39:03","modified_gmt":"2014-02-22T23:39:03","slug":"buena-vista-mobile-home-park-rir-deemed-complete","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bpapaloalto.org\/newbpa\/buena-vista-mobile-home-park-rir-deemed-complete\/","title":{"rendered":"Buena Vista Mobile Home Park – RIR deemed ‘complete’"},"content":{"rendered":"

The City of Palo Alto just announced (February 20, 2014) that they have accepted the Relocation Impact Report submitted by the Jisser family, the owners of the Buena Vista Mobile Home Park. This is one of the steps required by the Palo Alto Municipal Code that would allow the Jisser family to close Buena Vista. You can download the City’s press release – Buena Vista<\/a>, and read more about the issue and view other documents on the City’s webpage City of Palo Alto\/Buena Vista<\/a> . The next step, as written in the press release is a hearing: ” A\u00a0 City-appointed hearing officer is now required to hold a hearing within 60 days to decide whether the mitigation measures offered by the mobile home park owner, including relocation benefits, are adequate to mitigate the adverse impacts to displaced park residents, subject to limitations in the law. The hearing officer acts independently of the City and may also request additional information prior to rendering a decision.”<\/em><\/p>\n

The most recent Barron Park Association Newsletter, Winter Issue 2013-14, contained an article I wrote with background information about the issues involved, from both the property owner and the BV homeowners’ perspectives.\u00a0 Because this issue has now come front and center, the article is being posted below.<\/p>\n

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The Buena Vista Mobile Home Park (BVMHP) is owned by the Jisser family who announced about a year ago their intention to close it and sell the property to Prometheus, a large privately held developer of apartment buildings in Silicon Valley. Prometheus disclosed their concept for the 4.5 acre section of the mobile park site directly behind the stores (Barron Park Newsletter, Winter 2012). Their plan is to redevelop the site, removing the 104 trailers and 12 cottages and replace them with a 180 unit rental apartment complex.<\/p>\n

Whether BVMHP should stay, and what sort of project should replace it if it does close, involves a number of complex issues. These include:<\/p>\n

a)<\/strong>\u2013 BVMHP as affordable housing: \u00a0Most of the 375 or so residents who \u00a0call BVMHP home could not afford to live in Barron Park or elsewhere in Palo Alto or perhaps even in neighboring communities without some subsidy to their rent or a dedicated affordable housing apartment. Many of the trailers cannot be moved and there aren\u2019t any mobile home parks in the area able to accommodate those who can.<\/p>\n

b)<\/strong>\u2013 Property owners rights:\u00a0 The Jisser family or any property owner has the right, within the bounds of legislation and law, to determine the use and the disposition of his property, including maximizing the benefit of the investment. While the conditions of the sale contract of the BVMHP between the Jisser family and Prometheus are not public, the owner\u2019s appraisal of the property itself \u2013 without the mobile homes \u2013 was about $29 million. The appraised value of the site as is, with the current mobile homes, was about half that, or $14.5 million. In September, the Buena Vista Mobile Home Park Residents Association offered that amount to Jisser to purchase the site using private and residents\u2019 funds plus state and federal loans. Their offer was turned down by the Jisser family\u2019s representative. No reason was given, but one might surmise that money is one factor, that the costs of closure subtracted from the appraised value of the property itself are still well above the BVMHP Resident Association\u2019s offer.<\/p>\n

c)<\/strong>\u2013 BVMHP residents\u2019 rights:\u00a0\u00a0 Closure of the BVMHP would present a very difficult situation for the residents.\u00a0 The City of Palo Alto acknowledged that fact about 10 years ago and passed a set of ordinances listing the steps that a mobile home park owner must follow to close a mobile home park. The ordinances define\u00a0a set of rules for determining the impact of closure on the mobile home park\u2019s residents and the amount of relocation assistance they should be given. The process is being reviewed carefully by the City\u2019s legal department.\u00a0 The process is complicated. The owner hired consultants, conducted meetings and held interviews with residents and submitted several sets of reports, but as of the writing of this article (end of Nov) the City is not yet satisfied. Only after the reports are deemed complete will a Hearing Officer hired by the City conduct a public hearing. He will determine whether the relocation assistance measures proposed by the park owner are adequate to mitigate the adverse impacts on the displaced residents.\u00a0 The hearing will also provide an opportunity to consider objections by residents. The outcome of the hearing may be appealed to the City Council.<\/p>\n

d)<\/strong>\u2013 Zoning density:\u00a0\u00a0 From what has been revealed, Prometheus\u2019 conceptual plan is for a 180 unit apartment complex of 1- and 2-bedroom rental apartments\u00a0 in a cluster of 2, 3 and 4 story buildings up to 50 feet in height with underground parking. Their proposal would require a zoning change to 40 units\/acre from the current 15 units\/acre (which allows structures up to 35 feet in height). \u00a0Prometheus has not submitted their proposal to the City of Palo Alto Planning Department nor have they presented it to the Council for a \u201cpre-screening\u201d review. Before doing either of these actions, they agreed to present their proposal to the Barron Park residents in a community meeting, but only after the City has approved the closure of BVMHP.<\/p>\n

e)<\/strong> \u2013 City Council, Commissions and Boards:\u00a0 The role of the City Council in the closure decision was mentioned above. If the closure proceeds, the focus will turn to the Prometheus proposal. In its current form, the proposal is likely to be subjected to especially intense scrutiny because of the new owner’s desire to increase the zoning density when the effect of the BVMHP closure on its residents and their struggle against it would still be fresh in peoples’ minds.<\/p>\n

Here are a few of the questions that might be raised.<\/p>\n