REPORT TO THE MOBILEHOME PARK RENT REVIEW AND STABILIZATION COMMISSION
January 9, 2024
FROM: ANDREW JANZ, City Attorney
Office of the City Attorney
BY: SARAH PAPAZIAN, Senior Deputy City Attorney
Office of the City Attorney
SUBJECT
Title
Consideration and Adoption of an Updated Rent Increase Application Schedule for Mobilehome Parks.
.Body
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the Mobilehome Park Rent Review and Stabilization Commission (Commission) approve updated Rent Increase Application Schedule as proposed.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The City of Fresno Mobilehome Park Rent Review and Stabilization Ordinance (MPRRS Ordinance) provides that mobilehome park owners are only to submit their yearly application for a rent increase during the time period specified in the schedule established by the Commission. (Fresno Municipal Code (FMC) Sections 12-2006(c) & 12-2009(a).)
After review of the inherited files from the 1990’s Commission and previous Staff Liaisons, Staff has determined there are currently seven parks that do not have a specified time period, and there are discrepancies between the schedule originally approved by the 1990’s Commission and the schedule currently in use. Approving an updated schedule will restore compliance with the FMC, and ensure that all parks are able to follow the requirements of the MPRRS Ordinance in the event residents form a Rent Review Committee.
BACKGROUND
The original Commission established pursuant to the MPRRS Ordinance drafted and published a “Commissioner’s Handbook” in October 1988 for their use. Included in that handbook was a one-page schedule establishing when each park was eligible to submit rent increase applications (see Attachment 1). This 1988 schedule lists the thirty mobilehome parks then located within the City of Fresno (the City), along with what month each park requested they be assigned, and what month each park was actually assigned.
Staff is also in possession of the schedule utilized in 2023 by all parks with Rent Review Committees (see Attachment 2). This schedule reflects that in the intervening years, the original schedule approved by the Commission has changed, though no records were located demonstrating when the changes occurred. The current schedule lists all twenty-seven mobilehome parks currently operating in the City, but does not provide assigned months for the eight parks without a Rent Review Committee.
Recently, the residents of Fresno Mobile Home and RV Park, one of those eight parks, voted and formed a Rent Review Committee, and are therefore eligible for the protections afforded under the MPRRS Ordinance. However, they do not have an assigned month for the park owner to submit the rent increase application.
Staff has proposed an updated schedule, affirming the months currently assigned to the nineteen parks, and assigning months to the other eight. In the proposed schedule attached to this item, the established months are highlighted in red with an “X”, and the proposed months for the eight unassigned parks are highlighted in blue with an “O”. Along the bottom is a count of parks per month, both currently, and presuming the schedule is approved.
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS. Pursuant to California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Section 15378, the Commission’s consideration of the Application is not a CEQA “project”.
LOCAL PREFERENCE Not applicable.
FISCAL IMPACT This matter does not impact the General Fund.
Attachments: Rent Review Schedule for Mobilehome Parks, published October 1988
Mobilehome Park Rent Review - Annual Month of Application for 2023
Proposed Schedule for Mobilehome Park Annual Rent Increase Application