MAC Meeting: Mobile Home Policies and Sidewalk Vendors

At a lengthy meeting Monday night, the Castro Valley Municipal Advisory Council (MAC) heard updates from the county on mobile home policies and sidewalk vending, but ultimately sent the items for more complete information to be discussed at future meetings.

The MAC voted to support a permit streamlining program for single-family homes- a request from an Alameda County Planning Commission subcommittee which simplifies the building process for new houses. The streamline method allows for the removal of the Site Development Review requirements when new single-family homes meet all objective development standards.

The streamlining would also eliminate the requirement that new subdivision applications provide a lot size consistency analysis, and would also allow private streets beyond Castro Valley’s current allowance.

The MAC also requested more information about a proposed ordinance which would dictate how mobile home parks could be converted to new uses and outline which resources would be required to be given to residents if a park is ever closed down.

The County is considering an ordinance which would ensure that a Conditional Use Permit would be required if any of the 18 existing mobile home parks in the unincorporated area would be converted to a new use by their owners.

This would essentially require that a developer go through three levels of public approval if they wanted to cease operating a mobile home park and use the site for another use- the MAC, the county Planning Commission, and the Board of Supervisors.

The ordinance would also solidify the length of time mobile home residents would have to be given notice of when they’d have to leave and would specify relocation costs, right of first refusal for residents, and more.

At least two parks have closed in Castro Valley over the past several years, leaving a vulnerable population with nowhere to go, speakers said.

Speaker Judy Espinosa said she purchased her mobile home for a sense of security, but fears the land it is on could be ripped from right under her.

“Investors have now purchased the park,” said Espinosa, who says she has been concerned ever since. “Mobile homes are the last truly affordable housing. Our equity needs to be protected. Starting over at our age is impossible.”

WGP Property Management, the owner of the Avalon mobile home park, addressed the MAC, saying they have no plans to close the site and that the proposed ordinance could potentially infringe on their private property rights.

Another speaker told the MAC that, despite the Avalon owners’ claims they are not closing, he is slowly being forced out.

“I’ve had my house for 14 years,” he said. “It took me a lot of money to make it into a decent little home. I feel that WGP is predatory.”

He said that he has had promised utilities taken away, been given an eviction notice for non-payment when he had paid rent, and that the actual act of paying the rent has been made more complicated so residents are struggling.

“I believe WGP is trying to intimidate people to move out of there,” he said.

Speaker Brandon Lee agreed, adding that when people do move out, the vacancies are not filled, which leads him to believe that the owners are trying to empty out the park in order to convert it to a new use.

“The are very intent on taking away our homes,” said Lee. “They don’t intend to run a mobile home park.”

Shawn Alikian, who operates the Wagon Wheel Mobile Home Park, felt the proposed ordinance was too restrictive for property owners.

“If it doesn’t work for everyone, it doesn’t work for anyone,” said Alikian.

The MAC said they need more information and would like for feedback from both mobile home parks owners and tenants before weighing in.

“I want to support real needs of the community in a way where I’m not holding someone’s investment hostage,” said Vice Chair Bill Mulgrew.

The discussion will go in front of the Eden MAC and the Unincorporated Services Committee in October.

In other actions, the MAC ultimately continued discussion on a proposed sidewalk vendors ordinance which aims to bring Castro Valley’s legislation in line with State Senate Bills 946 and 972.

The bills are designed to support entrepreneurship, while maintaining public health standards, as more and more sidewalk vendors are selling fruit or other foods on the street, according to Edward Labayog, county Code Enforcement Manager.

The county says that challenges include low “voluntary participation” among vendors to obtain proper permits and the fact that many of the vendors don’t have proper identification themselves, making citation difficult.

The MAC said the current wording of the ordinance is vague and that there is simply not enough staff on hand to enforce it, so they need County staff to come back with more solid plans.

Other complications include language barriers and the fact that the Code Enforcement division largely work normal business hours, leaving evenings and weekends unstaffed.

“We do recognize the challenges,” said Labayog. “We all know this is going to be hard to enforce.”

Additionally, Labayog said they receive only a handful of complaints about vendors, which might make enforcement even less of a priority- however, they still must be in compliance with state ordinances.

MAC member Tojo Thomas said that the vendors themselves are often recent immigrants and low-income and Labayog assured the council that the county wasn’t trying to be punitive with a disadvantaged population.

“There are lots of lower income people trying to make a living,” said Thomas.

“Our purpose is to make them succeed,” said Labayog “We will go heavy on educating before any enforcement.”

MAC Chair Chuck Moore said that, even if everyone would like to see a positive outcome for street vendors, there are still a lot to consider- including a lack of employee bathrooms, insurance, signage and other regulations, parking, safety, and a whole litany of things that brick-and-mortar stores must comply with. Why give the sidewalk vendors a pass when other establishments must be held to these standards- often at great cost?

“I see too many things in here that we’d put guidelines on for regular vendors and we are just like ‘Weeeeeeeelllll, they are just peddlers…” I’m concerned about fairness,” said Moore.