Residents and advocates urge board to restore urgency moratorium on manufactured-home fees

Members of the public pressed the Lake County Board of Supervisors on Aug. 25 to revisit a recently defeated urgency moratorium on fee increases in manufactured-home parks, saying the measure is needed to shield low-income and elderly residents.

Hillary Mosher, regional manager for the Golden State Manufactured Homeowners League, told the board that many residents are living "hand to mouth on fixed retirement incomes" and criticized two supervisors for voting against the temporary moratorium. "You said you didn't have the data you needed to support urgency, and you failed in your due diligence to protect more than 1,000 constituents countywide," Mosher said, urging the ad hoc committee to place the issue on the next available agenda and to convene a closed legal session to give supervisors additional information.

Mobile-home resident Maya Lin raised related concerns about tax-exempt bonds issued to a private operator (Caritas Corporation) and described confusion over annual income disclosures that residents say they are now being asked to submit because of local approvals tied to bond certification. Lin said she would provide the board with documentation and asked whether local TEFRA approval changed residents' disclosure obligations.

The board did not take immediate further action on the moratorium during the Aug. 25 meeting; Mosher specifically requested follow-up outreach to park residents and additional data and legal review so supervisors can determine whether to reintroduce urgency findings at a future meeting.

Provenance: This article draws on public comments made by Maya Lin (SEG 299SEG 355) and Hillary Mosher (SEG 363SEG 406).