May 13, 2008

Park conservation plan on hold

Decision could be made in courtroom

By Banks Albach / Daily News Staff Writer

Plans to convert an East Palo Alto mobile home park into for-sale lots could rest in the hands of a San Mateo County Superior Court judge.

The owner of the 117-space park at 1835 East Bayshore Road unveiled plans to subdivide the land and sell the lots early last year, but has encountered opposition from the city of East Palo Alto, which passed an ordinance strengthening local regulation of the conversion process. Palo Mobile Estates Associates, a California limited partnership, filed a $14.1 lawsuit with the county and is hoping to torpedo the ordinance and claim damages resulting from project delays.

The partnership also filed the normal subdivision map application with the city, but because of the ordinance and some minor problems with the map, acting planning director Brad Tarr said he deemed the application incomplete earlier this year.

On Monday night, the East Palo Alto Planning Commission was set to hear an appeal of Tarr's decision by the park's owners. The partnership's attorneys, however, requested that the commission hold off on making a decision for 60 days.

Thomas Casparian, of the Santa Monica-based law firm Gilchrist & Rutter, said the request stemmed from two issues: a future decision from the judge on the legality of the city's ordinance and a recent memo from the California Department of Housing and Community Development.

Casparian said the judge could make a decision but not award damages within the next two months. If the judge rules that the ordinance violates state law, the city would be forced to render the application complete unless it decides to appeal, Casparian said.

The memo from the state housing agency has also helped the landowner. The East Palo Alto ordinance requires that the agency conduct an inspection of any park up for conversion and determine whether its infrastructure is current enough for a sale. But in the memo, the agency states that cities requiring an inspection are violating state mobile park laws.

"We're trying to do everything we can to comply with the city," Casparian said. But "even the Department of Housing and Community Development says you can't require that."

Casparian said he plans to submit the agency's memo to the judge and to the planning commission in coming weeks. After the application is determined complete, the planning process can truly begin, Casparian said. He declined to say whether his firm would continue or withdraw its claim for damages if the ordinance is overturned. His firm has represented more than 20 mobile park owners across the country and has lawsuits pending against several municipalities, including Santa Cruz County and Goleta in Santa Barbara County.

Palo Mobile Estates tenants, who pay around $500 per month for the land under East Palo Alto's rent stabilization program but own their homes, are viewing the plan with caution. Many fear it might include hidden costs, such as infrastructure improvements and homeowners association fees. In addition, the park would be subject to the county's rent control program, which includes a faster acceleration rate toward market-rate prices. Chet Smith, a tenant who opposes the conversion, said Monday he suspects most of the tenants are against the plan.

The partnership has never released an estimated value of each lot, but some tenants last year estimated the price tag to be about $300,000. Current tenants wouldn't be forced out if they choose not buy, however. The partnership has offered to grandfather them in as renters.



E-mail Banks Albach at balbach@dailynewsgroup.com.