San Jose approves additional protections for mobile home parks

In a decision that will make it difficult for developers to convert mobile home parks into other uses, the San Jose City Council has unanimously approved additional protections for some of the region’s last bastion of affordable housing.

Thirteen of San Jose’s mobile home parks will be placed into a new land-use category, requiring prospective developers to submit a general plan amendment on top of a council vote. The city’s eventual goal is to place nearly all of San Jose’s 60 parks in this category. San Jose is home to the most parks of this kind among all of California’s cities.

“I think this is a clear statement of intent from the council that these should remain mobile home parks,” said Mayor Matt Mahan. “And should a developer propose redevelopment, the bar would have to be extremely high.”

For years, mobile home park residents have worried about their communities being torn down and turned into high-density housing as the city pushes to add units amid an affordability crisis.

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While the communities own the physical structure of their home and can build equity, they lease the land underneath. Approximately 35,000 San Jose residents live in mobile home parks, many of whom are seniors and are considered low-income compared to the rest of the region. According to residents, the homes run between $350,000 to $400,000 to purchase, offering a unique middle ground between renting and buying a single-family home. There are about 11,000 across the entire city.

Over the last decade, residents at the Winchester Ranch Senior Mobile Home Park battled developers who sought to convert their community into apartment buildings. The residents eventually struck a deal that would guarantee them a slot at the new development. In 2016 and 2017, the City Council became the sole decision-making body on any conversions of mobile home parks going forward.

The mayor said the city has been trying for years to find the funding required to tweak the rules surrounding the conversion of mobile home parks and was able to secure it during the most recent budget season.

“I’m so grateful to Mayor Mahan and the council,” wrote Jill Borders, a mobile home resident, in response to the council’s decision. “This vote has been something we’ve been fighting for eight years to see happen. It has been a long and stressful journey to get where we are tonight. This vote sends the message that our neighborhoods matter and the families and seniors who live here matter.”