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The City of Sonoma has passed a moratorium on turning mobile-home parks into subdivisions - but some people wonder if it will stand.

A legal challenge to a similar moratorium was on its way to superior court when Sonoma County replaced the moratorium, first enacted in October of last year, with a regulatory ordinance. Now the plaintiff, Sequoia Park Associates, owner of Sequoia Gardens Mobile Home Park, northwest of Santa Rosa, is amending its complaint to challenge the regulation. According to Deputy County Counsel Debbie Latham, Sequoia is also seeking $800,000 in damages.

In essence, the confrontation is between local government's mandate to provide and protect affordable housing and private citizens' right to benefit fully from property ownership. The regulatory ordinance, passed on May 5, requires approval by at least 20 percent of a park's residents before a request for converting a mobile-home park into a subdivision of for-sale lots is considered "bona fide." Jane Riley, County Planner III (housing), said the regulation reflects the intention of the state law (the Keeley bill of 2002) that permitted conversion in the first place: an opportunity for those who rent space in a mobile-home park to become property owners.

Sequoia Park Associates, represented by the Los Angeles law firm Gilchrist and Rutter, however, called the moratorium a "taking," that is, a denial of the benefits of property ownership. It is not yet clear how or whether the argument will change when the complaint is amended to challenge the new regulatory ordinance.

Sonoma City Manager Mike Fuson isn't losing sleep over the possibility of a legal challenge to the city's moratorium and any future regulatory ordinance. He is, however, taking note of the effectiveness and legal status of regulations enacted elsewhere. "We wouldn't suggest the city council adopt an ordinance unless it's legally defensible," he said.

Although the city's 45-day moratorium can be extended as long as two years, Fuson said the object is to buy time to study whether or not a regulatory ordinance should be enacted and, if so, what form it should take.

"We have an obligation to study the issue and move it along," Fuson said. "We will meet with various parties to better define the problem."

Fuson predicted two possibilities for immediate action: letting the moratorium lapse "if there's nothing to gain by drafting an ordinance" and extending the moratorium long enough to draw up the appropriate regulatory measures.

In the meantime, on June 7, a bill by Assemblywoman Noreen Evens, D-Santa Rosa, regulating mobile-home conversion passed the state Assembly 41-32 and companion legislation is making its way through the state Senate.

A key feature of the bill is a guarantee current mobile-home park residents the right to continue renting - and benefiting from rent control - if a park is subdivided. If the bill becomes law, it will go into effect next year.

As matters now stand, all but low-income residents will lose rent control protection if a park is subdivided. A further concern is the overall loss of affordable housing as lots sell at market rate prices.

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