82-0415_CC_Minutes_Adjourned Regular Meeting.1 R.11
APRIL 15, 1982
ADJOURNED REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING
The Adjourned Regular Meeting of the City Council of the City of
San Juan Capistrano, California, was called to order by Mayor pr
tem Buchheim at 7:11 P.M., in the City Council Chamber, for the
purpose of discussing differences between the City's current
Mobilehome Park Ordinance No. 439 and a proposed mobilehome park
ordinance which would allow arbitration of rent increase disputes
by the parties involved.
ROLL CALL PRESENT: Phillip R. Schwartze, Mayor
(arrived at 8:20 P.M.)
Lawrence F. Buchheim, Mayor pro tem
Anthony L. Bland, Councilman
Kenneth E. Friess, Councilman
ABSENT: Gary L. Hausdorfer, Councilman
STAFF PRESENT: Stephen B. Julian, City Manager; James S. Okazaki,
City Attorney; Steven Coontz, Special Counsel; Mary Ann Hanover,
City Clerk; Cheryl Johnson, Recording Secretary.
CLOSED SESSION
The Council recessed to a Closed Session at 7:13 P.M., for
discussion of legal matters, the City Clerk being excused therefrom,
and reconvened at 7:30 P.M.
CONSIDERATION OF PROPOSED MOBILEHOME PARK ORDINANCE
(23) Discussion and History of Ordinance No. 439:
The City Manager advised that the City had received a
request to adopt a new mobilehome park ordinance which
would allow the parties involved in a rent increase dispute
to arbitrate the matter; that the request had been made to
gain immediate relief from pending rent increases, since
Ordinance No. 439 cannot be enforced pending the outcome
of the court proceedings.
Councilman Friess explained how and why the City's formula
for controlling rent increases was derived and summarized
events leading up to the challenge to Ordinance No. 439,
Judge Crosby's finding against it, and the status of the
City's Appeal of that finding.
Steven Coontz, Attorney for the City, advised that should a
new ordinance be adopted, the present Appeal of Judge Crosby's
ruling would be moot and the matter could not be re -litigated;
that if the present Appeal were dismissed, the final judgment
against it would stand.
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Discussion of Proposed Ordinance:
Stuart Parker, Attorney for residents of Rancho Alipaz
and San Juan Mobile Estates, advised that his clients had
requested some way to obtain immediate relief from rising
rents; that he felt the most effective relief would be
gained from adoption of the proposed ordinance. He pointed
out the following features of the proposed ordinance:
(1) Decisions regarding contested rent increases would
be made by an arbitrator, rather than the Mobilehome
Park Review Committee or the City Council;
(2) Each mobilehome park would form an association consisting
of at least 51% of the residents, and a negotiating
committee would be appointed before any rent increases
could be contested;
(3) During the period of a rent increase dispute, a park
owner would only be allowed to collect that portion
of the increase up to the Consumer Price Index, rather
than the whole amount of the increase;
(4) A roll back relief provision to July 1, 1981, would be
established and all contested rents collected since
July 1, 1981, in excess of the Consumer Price Index,
would be returned;
(5) Violation would constitute a misdemeanor, with everyday's
infraction counted as a separate offense;
(6) Provisions for award of a fair and just return to park
owners would be set up and permissible expenses to
justify an increase would be defined; further, a park
owner would be required to reveal operating expenses.
Mr. Parker discussed Judge Crosby's ruling regarding the
Westminister rent control ordinance; potential costs for
arbitration of a dispute; and, the differences between the
Westminister ordinance and the proposed ordinance.
Richard Blum, Attorney representing several Westminister
mobilehome parks, described the negotiating process. He
further discussed Judge Crosby's ruling on the Westminister
ordinance and noted that park owners had filed a motion
for reconsideration.
Public Comment:
The following persons addressed the Council in favor of
continuing the Appeal process with Ordinance No. 439:
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(1) Darrell Carmichael, Rancho del Avion;
(2) Dave Willett, Rancho del Avion;
(3) Fred Kelly, E1 Nido;
(4) Joe Malash, Rancho del Avion;
(5) George Brown, Rancho del Avion;
(6) Don Vance, Rancho del Avion.
The following persons addressed Council in favor of adoption
of the proposed ordinance:
(1) Al Arps, San Juan Mobile Estates;
(2) Frank Bailey, San Juan Mobile Estates;
(3) Emerson Johnson, Rancho Alipaz.
Additional Information Meeting Date:
At the suggestion of Councilman Friess, and with the consensus
of Council, Mayor Schwartze directed that the proposed
ordinance be distributed to the various mobilehome park
boards of directors for their study; that May 26, 1982, be
set as a tentative date for the next informational review
session to receive input from the park boards of directors
and a possible referral to the Mobilehome Park Review
Committee for review and recommendation to Council. Staff
was directed to distribute the proposed ordinance with a
cover letter and calendar of events for the review process.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the Council, the meeting
was adjourned at 9:22 P.M., to the next meeting date of Tuesday
April 20, 1982, at 7:00 P.M., in the City Council Chamber.
ATTEST:
d2
PHILLI R. SCHWARTZE, M10
R
Respectfully submitted,
i•
—VER,- CITY CLERK
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