Rhonda Anderson moved from Casa Del Rio to Del Cielo Mobile Estates after a corporate property management company took over and hiked her rent up by $300.
Now, she’s scared it might happen again.
Del Cielo, an Orcutt-based 55-and-older mobile home park, was purchased by Stockton-based property management company Harmony Communities just 10 days after Anderson purchased her home and qualified for the age requirements, she said.
In May, Harmony Communities served residents with a six-month notice stating its plans to convert Del Cielo to an all-ages community.
“I got involved in this group because this can’t happen twice,” Anderson said of her neighbors who’ve banded together and are advocating for an overlay—a countywide ordinance that would protect senior park zoning and prevent an all-ages conversion.
Other senior park residents approached the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors during general public comment in the Aug. 20 and 27 Board of Supervisors meetings to share their concerns about similar action occurring in mobile home parks beyond Del Cielo. They requested that the supervisors add an overlay to the agenda.
Del Cielo residents claimed that converting senior parks to all-ages would reduce housing affordability for seniors on fixed income, and that there’s nothing to accommodate children and families in the park—including no sidewalks or playgrounds in the community nor a busing system to get children to schools.
After hearing public comment, the supervisors agreed to add it to the agenda, which 4th District Supervisor Bob Nelson said will go before the board sometime in October. In the meantime, Nelson—whose district encompasses Del Cielo—has been working to address the issue on a neighborhood level before November, the end of Harmony’s six-month notice.
Del Cielo resident Pamela Barilone said that there’s a “desperate need” for senior mobile home parks.
“It prevents [people from] living in assisted living because we help each other out. It decreases the strain of helping seniors in the community because we help each other out,” she said.
Nick Ubaldi, the regional manager for Harmony Communities, told the Sun in an emailed statement that the company believes everyone should have access to affordable housing in Santa Barbara County, and it “does not discriminate based on age, race, or gender.”
“Del Cielo operates under the Santa Barbara County Mobile Home Rent Stabilization Ordinance. Changing to an all-ages park does not remove it from the rent control ordinance, so there is no impact on rent,” Ubaldi said. “The decision to convert to ‘all-ages’ does not involve any physical changes to the park. As far as I am aware the park has never provided any on-site services for seniors. Simply put, the only thing changing is the potential addition of families.”
In the short time Harmony has managed the park, the company has invested in the community by “addressing many issues that were neglected by previous ownership,” Ubaldi said.
“We’ve repaired the long-troubled pool heater and performed much-needed maintenance on the roads,” he said. “We are listening to residents’ requests, and we hope they are pleased with the changes we’re making.”
Del Cielo resident Barilone said that it’s become difficult to get ahold of a manager since Harmony Communities took over—the manager no longer lives on-site but is 15 minutes away in Nipomo. Recently, she said, residents had a plumbing issue in the clubhouse—which caused the sink to overflow onto the floor—the same day they had a potluck; however, they couldn’t get in touch with anyone to help the residents to find and/or provide needed cleaning supplies to manage the flooding.
“We didn’t have any way to clean up the mess and could not get ahold of anyone on that particular day to guide us through where the mop closet was. We needed basic stuff,” Barilone said. “We just wanted to clean up the mess and call the plumber on Monday. Someone should be available.”
Harmony Communities oversees more than 30 mobile home parks in California. It settled joint litigation from SLO, Fresno, San Joaquin, and Marin counties in August after failing to reimburse residents for background fees—which is required by California law.
The company also sold property to mobile home park residents in Fresno County in March as part of a settlement in a lawsuit that claimed Harmony maintained the park in unhealthy conditions and threatened evictions if residents didn’t comply with “vague” new rules that were provided in only English, according to KQED reporting.
In Sonoma County’s Cotati, Harmony Communities threatened closure for Country Side Mobile Home Park—a senior mobile home park—in December after the city approved a senior mobile home park overlay zone to preserve the park’s status as a senior-only park, according to reporting from The Press Democrat.
Cotati’s overlay implementation came after Harmony attempted to convert the park to an all-ages park and residents raised alarm about potential rent increases. Harmony claimed that this change interfered with its right to a fair return and ability to keep parks afloat.
In Santa Barbara County’s case, Harmony Communities is open to “discussing options” if an overwhelming number of residents would like to see the park remain 55-and-older, Ubaldi said.
County Supervisor Nelson said that he and his office are sending out surveys to Del Cielo residents, asking them to indicate if they want to keep their age restrictions. If he doesn’t hear back from the residents, Nelson and his office plan to canvass the neighborhood to get feedback.
“If it’s overwhelming that they want to, which it likely will be, the Harmony Communities [said] they are open to leaving it as a senior park,” Nelson said. “There’s been a contention from them that maybe it’s a vocal minority that wants that.”
If it’s not a senior mobile home park, property value may increase because the company can sell to a wider clientele. Harmony Communities also purchased a few of the units that can be rented out—a way the company could potentially raise rent and produce more income, he said.
“There’s a [caveat] that everyone needs housing, so why are we limiting housing to just seniors?” Nelson said. “I can appreciate that … but I don’t think we should be solving the issues for housing on the backs of seniors—especially those on fixed incomes who might not be able to react to the markets the same way families might.”
Nelson’s office has also requested documentation from Harmony Communities that proves Del Cielo can be sold as an all-ages park, but Nelson said that Harmony Communities hadn’t provided any records as of Aug. 29.
In a county records search, Nelson found that there was contemplation for zoning the park for all-ages when it was first proposed to the county in the 1950s, but it was ultimately denied because it sat on Highway 101 at the time (now Santa Maria Way) and there were no sidewalks or park facilities—“not a good place for an all-age park,” he said.
Ultimately, the project was approved with a conditional use permit specifying that it’s for seniors only. If Harmony Communities moved forward without proper permitting, the company would be in violation of its original approval.
“They haven’t gone through with the actual violation; they haven’t made it an all-age park, they’ve noticed people that’s their intention,” he said, noting that installing streetlights, adding sidewalks, paying school fees, addressing student busing needs, and locating playground or children’s recreational space would be a good start for Harmony Communities if it wants to expand into an all-ages park.
“My contention with [Harmony Communities] is if you want to make it all-age now you need to file for a permit,” Nelson continued. “The thing about it for me is I’m typically a property rights person, but you have all of these residents who bought with this expectation that it would be a senior park. … That’s why I’m engaged because I do feel for them, the expectation is reasonable.
“They deserve an opportunity to comment in the planning process.”
Reach Staff Writer Taylor O’Connor at [email protected].
