LAGUNA BEACH : Mobile Home Rent Law Battle Escalates

Just two weeks after the City Council approved a controversial rent control ordinance for mobile home parks, opponents of the measure have submitted what they say are more than enough signatures needed to force the council to either rescind the law or put it to a vote.

“We never expected it to be that fast,” said Stephen Esslinger, whose family owns one of three mobile home parks in the city. “To be very blunt, we didn’t think it would be that easy.”

The ordinance rolls back rents to 1989 levels and limits annual increases. Opponents claim that it subsidizes park residents in beachfront communities, while supporters say it keeps low-income seniors from being “economically evicted” from their homes.

The past 10 days, tempers occasionally flared as petitioners stationed themselves at grocery stores and the post office while tenants mounted a counter-drive to persuade people to withdraw their names from the petitions.

“I’ve never seen people so upset,” Treasure Island Mobile Home Park resident Connie Vlasis said outside the post office Monday.

Both sides accused the other of misbehaving. Referendum workers said they were harassed by park tenants, while mobile home owners say the workers misinformed those who signed their petitions.

“This is a constitutional issue,” said Robert Lincoln, a Laguna Beach resident who said he spent his first vacation in more than three years collecting signatures. “We believe as petitioners that people should have a right to vote and say what they want and what they don’t. That’s the American way.”

Thurston Mobile Home Park resident Sam Alessi said he missed a day’s work to take part in the counter-drive. “It’s a personal sacrifice for anyone doing this,” he said.

Each time the subject of mobile home park rent control has surfaced in Laguna Beach, emotions have risen along with it. When the ordinance was approved, 3 to 2, by the council July 16, about 150 park tenants packed the council chambers.

The ordinance would limit annual rent increases to either 7% more than the current rent or 75% of the annual consumer price index increase, whichever is less. Opponents say it is one of the most restrictive rent control laws in the state because of a vacancy control provision that locks in rent control, even when a new tenant moves in. Proponents say the law guarantees park owners a fair rate of return on their money.

City Clerk Verna L. Rollinger said about 1,500 signatures are needed to force the council to either rescind the ordinance or place it on the ballot. About 2,500 signatures were delivered Monday afternoon, all of which must be verified by the county registrar of voters.

Rollinger said she also received at least 86 requests from residents who wanted their signatures deleted from the petitions.