The Windsor Town Council on Wednesday will consider adopting an urgency ordinance to pause the closure or conversion of mobile home parks in the wake of one park owner’s intention to close Evergreen Mobile Estates.
Nick Ubaldi, owner of Evergreen Mobile Estates, said when Windsor updated its rent control regulations a few years ago, the move pushed the business to operate at a loss.
“I am prepared to vigorously defend the legal rights of Evergreen Mobile Home Park. I have dedicated substantial resources to litigating similar matters throughout Sonoma County,” Ubaldi wrote in an email to the Town Council on Monday.
Evergreen is managed by Harmony Communities, a Stockton-based company that owns upward of 30 mobile home parks in California and Oregon. The company has been similarly embroiled in litigation, threats of closure and ongoing arbitration hearings in Petaluma and Cotati.
Because it is proposed as an “urgency” ordinance, the moratorium requires a 4/5 vote for adoption and would sunset after 45 days. Town staff noted that approving the moratorium would provide time to analyze any amendments town leaders might want to make to how mobile homes are regulated within town limits.
Windsor is home to four mobile home parks with a total of 560 spaces, representing “a significant portion of the affordable housing supply” in Windsor, “and the most affordable housing that is not deed restricted,” according to a staff report. Relocating these so-called “mobile homes” is costly, which are frequently owned by seniors on fixed-income and low-income residents and who pay rent on the land beneath.
Ubaldi asked to meet with town officials to find a “lawful, economically viable solution that keeps residents safe and treats property owners fairly,” that can be reached “without eliminating mobile home rent control protections.”
“If the town persists in policies that amount to a taking, coercive operation at a loss, targeting or other unconstitutional treatment, I will not hesitate to seek all available legal and equitable relief, including declaratory and injunctive relief, compensation for damages, attorneys’ fees and other remedies,” Ubaldi wrote. He added, “This is not a threat. It is a statement of readiness and resolve.”
But the staff reported noted that, “according to tenant advocates that have communicated with staff, a recent trend has seen national investment companies purchasing mobile home parks and subsequently leveraging the threat of park closures to pressure residents into making decisions that are contrary to or that waive their rights to local regulations including rent stabilization.”
Various jurisdictions and residents across the county, and the state, have also confronted steep rent hike proposals and similar threats of closure as municipalities have sought to update mobile home laws. Meanwhile, Ubaldi is fighting against what he calls “overreaching regulations” on business practices that force businesses to remain open, resulting in tens of thousands of losses annually, according to his letter.
The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Town of Windsor Council Chambers at 9291 Old Redwood Highway, Bldg. 400.