Title
Mobile Home Park Displacement Options
Description
This report provides an overview of the recommendations from the Community and Cultural Investment Subcommittee regarding options to assist mobile home park residents facing displacement.
Report
Summary
Residents of mobile home communities throughout the City of Phoenix have faced displacement due to the redevelopment of mobile home park sites. Residents of three communities, including Periwinkle, Weldon Court, and Las Casitas, are under imminent risk of displacement. Many residents of these communities have contacted the City to seek assistance.
In response to these concerns and in coordination with the Mayor and City Council, an internal work group was formed on Sept. 28, 2022, to determine how the City can assist families facing imminent displacement and to identify measures to reduce this risk in the future. The resulting research report from the internal work group was issued Nov. 25, 2022, and an updated report was issued on Feb. 23, 2023 (Attachment A).
On March 6, staff presented information to the Community and Cultural Investment Subcommittee on services and assistance available to residents of the mobile home parks, information on pending legislation, zoning issues and legal concerns as well as possible options. The subcommittee ultimately recommended four actions intended to assist residents of mobile home parks facing displacement. These recommended actions are listed below. A brief staff analysis on implementation steps and impacts follows each recommendation.
Recommendation One
Enter into an intergovernmental agreement with Arizona State University (ASU) School of Geographical Science and Urban Planning or a similar agency, or a contract with a firm, to produce a study and inventory of all mobile home parks within the city. The study and inventory should include information related to ownership, underlying zoning, number of units, vacancy rates, quality of housing, and recommendations for preservation and improvement. The overall goal of this study should be the improvement and preservation of current mobile home park housing in Phoenix, that includes concrete policy recommendations.
Implementation
Completion of a study as described will require negotiating a scope of work and agreement with ASU or a similar agency, or a contract with a firm. That agreement or contract would be brought to the City Council for approval. The timing for completion will depend on the availability of the provider and would be negotiated as part of an agreement. Such an analysis would be available to the public and could have unintended impacts to the community. Aggregating and providing such information and data at a granular level on specific parks could potentially facilitate acquisition and redevelopment of vulnerable mobile home parks. The Council might consider a study that would provide recommendations for preservation and improvement without specific information on individual mobile home parks.
Recommendation Two
Reallocate the remaining $2.5 million of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, that have been set aside for the Landlord Incentive Program, to create a new emergency fund, specifically for individuals affected by mobile home park displacement, and work with a non-profit partner to implement this new fund.
Implementation
This emergency fund would be established for the purpose of providing housing navigation to mobile home residents facing displacement. The navigation services would assist residents in accessing available services and assistance toward relocation. Implemented in October 2020, the landlord incentive program has successfully assisted more than 2,400 voucher holders in obtaining a unit and has resulted in 350 new first-time landlords to the Housing Choice Voucher program. The reallocation of the remaining funds allocated to landlord incentives would end the program. In the current rental market, incentives are one effective tool available to assist voucher holders in competing for units, including those voucher holders that may come from the affected mobile home parks. Staff recommends that if the Council approves this recommendation, discretion be provided for staff to identify other funds to provide navigation services and that the Landlord Incentive Program remain in place.
Recommendation Three
Initiate a mobile home park zoning overlay on the three mobile home parks discussed during the March 6 Community and Cultural Investment Subcommittee meeting (Las Casitas, Periwinkle, and Weldon Court).
Implementation
Adoption of a zoning overlay that would modify the existing zoning on each of the mobile home parks will require the City to initiate and process several actions. A text amendment to the Zoning Ordinance, creating the zoning overlay district that restricts development on-site to mobile homes, would be the first action. Next, rezoning requests for each of the subject parcels would be required in order to apply the zoning overlay and modify each of the property’s existing zoning. Only the owner of the parcel or the Planning Commission can make that request. The text amendment and rezoning cases would be required to proceed through the public hearing process, which includes presentations and hearings before the village planning committees, Planning Commission and the City Council. The City will be required to comply with the notice requirements for rezoning cases which includes notifying the property owner and surrounding property owners within 600 feet, and all registered neighborhood associations within one mile. The City will also be required to host a neighborhood meeting on each rezoning request prior to proceeding through the hearing process.
As noted in the City Manager’s Report attached, rezoning of a property to eliminate existing zoning entitlements will expose the City to potentially significant claims for diminution of property value under Proposition 207, also known as the Private Property Rights Protection Act. The proposition was passed by voters in 2006 and codified as Arizona Revised Statute (A.R.S.) 12-1134. The statute would require the City to compensate the landowner if the value of the property is reduced by the enactment of a land use law. Here, the overlay would diminish the fair market value of these properties.
Recommendation Four
Institute an 18-month moratorium on all development at the three mobile home parks discussed (Periwinkle, Weldon Court, and Las Casitas). This moratorium should be in accordance with A.R.S. Chapter 9-463.06 Section C.
Implementation
As noted in the City Manager’s Report attached, the Arizona State Legislature has declared development moratoriums a matter of statewide concern because moratoriums could negatively affect property rights and property owners. As part of the establishment of the moratorium, the City would have to determine that the moratorium is justified (e.g. lack of adequate infrastructure, among other things), and limit the location and duration of the moratorium. Also the City would need to conduct a public hearing and provide 30 days notice to the community. Moratoriums in Arizona are very restrictive. The City would be required to demonstrate an inability to serve the new development as justified by a demonstration of compelling need for public facilities. It cannot be done solely to restrict a property right to redevelop privately owned land. Proceeding with such a moratorium without adequate justification could subject the City to legal action.
Location
Periwinkle, Weldon Court, and Las Casitas
Council District(s): 4, 5 and 8
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Deputy City Managers Alan Stephenson and Gina Montes and the City Manager's Office.