Rent Control Imposed on Mobile Home Parks : Ordinance: The city’s attorneys warned against the measure, but its tough standards pleased trailer park residents.

Acting against the advice of its attorneys, Malibu’s City Council on Tuesday approved a tough rent control ordinance favorable to residents of the city’s two trailer parks.

The council nominally modified the ordinance drafted by a task force composed mostly of trailer park residents, despite warnings from City Atty. Michael Jenkins that the law may invite lawsuits by owners of the trailer parks.

The new law extends for 16 months a rent freeze put into effect when Malibu became a city. After 16 months, rents would be recalculated to the levels prevailing in 1984, chosen as the base year. If left unchallenged, that provision would lead to rent reductions for many residents of the Paradise Cove and Point Dume trailer parks.

The decision followed three hours of deliberation and capped weeks of heated debate between about 500 trailer park residents and the parks’ owners.

Lawyers for the trailer park owners, clearly displeased by the council’s action, refused comment after Tuesday’s series of votes over what to include in the new law. However, the park owners have said they will challenge any law that prevents them from earning a fair return.

Trailer park residents were elated by the new measure.

“We appear to be moving in a positive direction,” said Jeffrey Glover, president of the Point Dume Homeowners Assn.

Although all five members of the City Council were sympathetic to the residents, Mayor Larry Wan expressed concern that some elements of the new law might be vulnerable to a court challenge.

“If we construct an ordinance that can be challenged, then we’ll have no ordinance at all,” Wan said.

Jenkins, the city attorney, had recommended changes to several key provisions of the measure to address some of the park owners’ most serious objections, but that outraged the residents.

The most contentious issue was over what base year to use to establish current rents. The city attorney had recommended using March 28, 1991, when Malibu became a city. But the residents had argued that 1984 should be used as a base year, contending that owners of the trailer parks had illegally raised their rents for several years.

“The homeowners or the park owners can bring challenge if they don’t like the (base year),” said Christi Hogan, assistant city attorney.

The task force had asked for a three-year moratorium on rent increases.

“You’ve already rolled back rents to 1984 as a base rent and now you want to freeze it for three years. It doesn’t make sense,” Jenkins said.

The council did agree with their attorneys on the issues of automatic rent increases and vacancy decontrol.

The measure allows for annual rent increases equal to 5% of the existing rent, or 75% of the annual increase in the Consumer Price Index, whichever is less.

The task force had asked for a 10% limit on the increase that the owners can impose once a spot becomes vacant. Jenkins had recommended 25% as something that could withstand a court challenge. The council settled on 18% despite the objections from residents.