Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Steve Monowitz, Community Development Director
Subject: A zoning text and map amendment, a General Plan map amendment, an amendment to San Mateo County’s Trailer Camp regulations, and an associated Initial Study and Negative Declaration, to 1) adopt a new Mobilehome Park (MH) zoning district as a new chapter of the San Mateo County Zoning Regulations, 2) amend the County zoning maps to apply the new MH zoning designation to six existing mobilehome parks in unincorporated San Mateo County, replacing the existing zoning of each park, 3) in the case of three of the existing mobilehome parks, amend the County General Plan land use map to change the underlying general plan land use designation of those parks to Medium High Density Residential, 4) repeal the County’s Trailer Camp regulations, Chapter 5.92 of the County Ordinance Code, in their entirety, and 5) adopt the Initial Study and Negative Declaration for the project.
RECOMMENDATION:
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Public hearing to consider a zoning text and map amendment, a General Plan map amendment, an amendment to San Mateo County’s Trailer Camp regulations, and an associated Initial Study and Negative Declaration:
A) Adopt a resolution adopting the negative declaration for amendments to the County Ordinance Code, Division VI, Part One (Zoning Regulations) to add Chapter 26 (MH Zoning District), amendments to Division VI, Part One, Chapter 2, Section 6115 (Zoning Maps), Amendments to General Plan Land Use Maps 8.2M and 8.4M, and repeal of Chapter 5.92 of the County Ordinance Code (Trailer Camp Regulations) in its entirety; and
B) Adopt an ordinance amending the County Ordinance Code, Division VI, Part One (Zoning Regulations) to add Chapter 26 (MH Zoning District), amending Division VI, Part One, Chapter 2, Section 6115 (Zoning Maps), amending General Plan Land Use Maps 8.2M and 8.4M, and repealing Chapter 5.92 Of the County Ordinance Code (Trailer Camp Regulations) in its entirety.
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BACKGROUND:
Proposal: The proposed project is a zoning text and map amendment, a General Plan map amendment, an amendment to San Mateo County’s Trailer Camp regulations, and an associated Initial Study and Negative Declaration, to 1) adopt a new Mobilehome Park (MH) zoning district as a new chapter of the San Mateo County Zoning Regulations, 2) amend the County zoning maps to apply the new MH zoning designation to six existing mobilehome parks in unincorporated San Mateo County, replacing the existing zoning of each park, 3) in the case of three of existing mobilehome parks, amend the County General Plan land use map to change the underlying general plan land use designation of those parks to Medium High Density Residential, 4) repeal the County’s Trailer Camp regulations, Chapter 5.92 of the County Ordinance Code, in their entirety, and 5) adopt the Initial Study and Negative declaration for the project.
Planning Commission Action: On August 23rd, the Planning Commission voted to recommend that the Board of Supervisors adopt the proposed new zoning district, proposed zoning and General Plan map amendments, repeal of Chapter 5.92 of the County Ordinance Code, and adoption of the associated Initial Study and Negative Declaration.
Report Prepared By: William Gibson
Appellant: N/A
Applicant: San Mateo County Planning and Building Department
Owner: Various
Locations:
1. Bayshore Villa Manufactured Housing Community
3499 E Bayshore Road, Redwood City.
2. Trailer Villa, 3401 E. Bayshore Road, Redwood City.
3. Belmont Trailer Park, 100 Harbor Boulevard, Belmont.
4. Pillar Ridge, 164 Culebra, Moss Beach.
5. Redwood Trailer Village, 855 Barron Ave, Redwood City.
6. Sequoia Trailer Park, 730 Barron Ave, Redwood City
APN(s):
Bayshore Villa Manufactured Housing Community and Trailer Villa: 134201130, 134201590, 134201701, 134201870, 134202260, 134202280, 134201570, 134202310, 134202341, 055010260, 134201090, 134211310, 134201120, 134201600, 134201630, 134202080, 134202240, 134211240, 134201770, 134201780, 134202030, 134202241, 134201560, 055010280, 134201730, 134201820, 134202160, 134202300, 134201031, 134201940, 134202050, 134201511, 134201140, 134201400, 134202110, 134202190, 134202230, 134202330, 134211190, 134211280, 134201830, 134202360, 134201970, 055010120, 055010270, 055130010, 134201030, 134201230, 134202010, 134202290, 134211110, 134201070, 134201641, 134202270, 134211120, 134201510, 134201650, 134201680, 134201690, 134201760, 134202150, 134202320, 134201971, 134201360, 134201580, 134201840, 134201990, 134202060, 134202120, 134211270, 134201080, 134201520, 055010200, 134201060, 134201640, 134201920, 134201980, 134202180, 134211130
Belmont Trailer Park: 046010140, 046010130, 134111590, 134111840, 134111710, 134111600, 134111910, 134111760, 134111580, 046010120, 046010150
Pillar Ridge: 047300060, 134131180, 134131260, 134131540, 134132030, 134132100, 134132110, 134132280, 134132360, 134132640, 134132650, 134132670, 134132731, 134132781, 134132840, 134133130, 134133150, 134133180, 134133280, 134133290, 134133540, 134132300, 134133230, 134133211, 134132070, 134131330, 134131340, 134131450, 134131620, 134132200, 134132290, 134132430, 134132550, 134132560, 134132610, 134132960, 134131651, 134132470, 134133381, 134133410, 134133351, 134132140, 134131631, 134132750, 134131461, 134131120, 134131290, 134131390, 134131460, 134131520, 134131650, 134132130, 134132170, 134132210, 134132220, 134132330, 134132350, 134132400, 134132480, 134132530, 134132620, 134132660, 134132680, 134132910, 134132990, 134133160, 134133250, 134133320, 134133350, 134133380, 134133530, 134133570, 134133610, 134132510, 134133501, 134131501, 134132050, 134132261, 134131561, 134131070, 134131160, 134131200, 134131221, 134131490, 134131560, 134132090, 134132190, 134132311, 134132370, 134132420, 134132520, 134132690, 134132721, 134132830, 134132880, 134132950, 134133330, 134133460, 134133520, 134131190, 134133010, 134133240, 134132160, 134133220, 134131210, 134131270, 134131320, 134131420, 134131610, 134132080, 134132390, 134132451, 134132741, 134132760, 134132771, 134133030, 134133050, 134133341, 134133430, 134133451, 134133510, 134133620, 134132010, 134133021, 134133260, 134132710, 134131030, 134131050, 134131150, 134131170, 134131280, 134131310, 134131370, 134131410, 134131530, 134131550, 134131570, 134131660, 134132150, 134132410, 134132570, 134132970, 134133080, 134133170, 134133270, 134133300, 134133310, 134133370, 134133480, 134132890, 134131440, 134133091, 134133590, 134131040, 134131130, 134131580, 134131591, 134131640, 134132060, 134132250, 134132440, 134132540, 134132850, 134132920, 134133040, 134133100, 134133110, 134133210, 134133390, 134133550, 134132481, 134133420, 134133461, 134131140, 134132490, 134131010, 134131361, 134131630, 134132270, 134132321, 134132341, 134132380, 134132500, 134132600, 134132701, 134132810, 134132821, 134132860, 134132980, 134133090, 134133140, 134133440, 134133470, 134133561, 134133580, 134131341, 134131381, 134131600, 134132790, 134133121, 134131240, 134133061, 134133500, 134133291
Redwood Trailer Village: 054171060
Sequoia Trailer Park: 054193020, 134182200, 134182320, 054193040, 134182270, 134182350, 134181450, 054193110
Size:
Bayshore Villa: 7.92 acres
Trailer Villa: 6.03 acres
Belmont Trailer Park: 3.19 acres
Pillar Ridge: 19.33 acres
Redwood Trailer Village: 1.53 acres
Sequoia Trailer Park: 4.61 acres
Existing Zoning:
Bayshore Villa Manufactured Housing Community: C-2/S-1 (commercial)
Trailer Villa: C-2/S-1 (commercial)
Belmont Trailer Park: C-2 (commercial)
Pillar Ridge: H-1 (highway frontage)
Redwood Trailer Village: C-2/S-1 (commercial)
Sequoia Trailer Park: C-2/S-1 (commercial)
General Plan Designation:
Bayshore Villa Manufactured Housing Community: High Density Residential
Trailer Villa: High Density Residential
Belmont Trailer Park: General Industrial
Pillar Ridge: Medium High Density Residential
Redwood Trailer Village: Industrial Mixed Use
Sequoia Trailer Park: Industrial Mixed Use
Sphere-of-Influence: Redwood City, Belmont, and Half Moon Bay
Existing Land Use: Fully developed trailer parks with a variety of trailers and other temporary, semi-temporary, and permanent residential structures and ancillary uses.
Water Supply: All parks are fully served.
Sewage Disposal: All parks are fully served.
Flood Zone: Various.
Environmental Evaluation: The County prepared an Initial Study and Negative Declaration for this project, which were circulated beginning on July 26, 2017.
Setting: Various settings; see Discussion, below.
DISCUSSION:
KEY ISSUES
1. Project Description
The project is 1) a zoning text and map amendment, 2) a general plan map amendment, and 3) an amendment to San Mateo County’s existing Trailer Camp Regulations.
The project consists of:
a. A zoning text amendment, adopting a new Mobilehome Park (MH) zoning district as a new chapter of the San Mateo County Zoning Regulations.
b. A zoning map amendment applying the new MH zoning designation to six existing mobilehome parks in unincorporated San Mateo County.
c. In the case of three of those parks, a General Plan land use map amendment changing the underlying general plan land use designation of each park to Medium High Density Residential.
d. An amendment to the County’s Trailer Camp regulations, Chapter 5.92 of the County Ordinance Code, repealing this Chapter of the Ordinance Code in its entirety. The land use and permitting regulations included in those sections will be incorporated, in modified form, in the new MH Zoning District regulations.
The mobilehome parks (and size, current zoning and General Plan land use designations) included in and affected by these proposed zoning and General Plan map and text amendments are the following:
Bayshore Villa Manufactured Housing Community, 3499 East Bayshore Road, Redwood City. Approximately 7.92 acres, zoned C-2/S-1 (commercial), General Plan land use designation High Density Residential.
Trailer Villa, 3401 East Bayshore Road, Redwood City. Approximately 6.03 acres, zoned C-2/S-1 (commercial), General Plan land use designation High Density Residential.
Belmont Trailer Park, 100 Harbor Boulevard, Belmont. Approximately 3.19 acres, zoned C-2 (commercial), General Plan land use designation General Industrial.
Pillar Ridge, 164 Culebra, Moss Beach. Approximately 19.33 acres, zoned H-1 (highway frontage), General Plan land use designation Medium High Density Residential.
Redwood Trailer Village, 855 Barron Avenue, Redwood City. Approximately 1.53 acres, zoned C-2/S-1 (commercial), General Plan land use designation Industrial Mixed Use.
Sequoia Trailer Park, 730 Barron Avenue, Redwood City. Approximately 4.61 acres, zoned C-2/S-1 (commercial), General Plan land use designation Industrial Mixed Use.
One mobile home park in the unincorporated County, La Honda Trailer Park, is not included in the proposed rezoning and General Plan land use amendment. This park is located in a low-density, primarily rural and heavily forested setting, is zoned RM, and is surrounded by other properties also zoned RM. Given the location, setting, and surrounding zoning, the RM zoning designation provides the most appropriate development restrictions should the park ever desire to convert to another use. However, La Honda Trailer Park would still be covered by the regulations incorporated in the MH zoning district.
The proposed rezoning also excludes one small parcel of the Pillar Ridge mobile home park, zoned PAD. The County’s Local Coastal Program places special emphasis on and provides specific protections for PAD-zoned parcels, and changing the designation of those parcels requires specific findings that may not be feasible at this time. However, mobile homes are and are intended to remain a conditionally permitted use on PAD lands, and the portion of the Pillar Ridge park zoned PAD would still be covered by the regulations incorporated in the MH zoning district.
This proposed zoning map amendments would change the zoning of each listed park from its current zoning designation to the new “MH” zoning designation. The General Plan land use map amendments would change the General Plan land use designation for Belmont Trailer Park, Redwood Trailer Village, and Sequoia Trailer Park to Medium High Density Residential. The components of the project are discussed in more detail below.
2. MH (Mobilehome) Zoning District
Unlike many jurisdictions, the County has no specific zoning designation applicable to mobilehome parks. However, the existing Trailer Camp regulations, presently codified in Ordinance Code Chapter 5.92 establish land use regulations, performance standards, and permitting requirements for mobilehome parks. In many respects, Chapter 5.92 is a set of zoning regulations, located in the business regulations title of the Ordinance Code, rather than the County’s zoning regulations.
Rather than being zoned for mobilehome use with a relevant zoning designation, each of the mobilehome parks listed above is in a commercial (or in the case of Pillar Ridge, highway frontage) zoning district. However, these sites have in fact been used as mobilehome parks for many years. The parks have historically been, and continue to be, unique residential areas that are not commercial or industrial in nature.
Mobilehomes, and mobilehome parks, provide a distinct type of housing. In many cases, due to the size of mobilehomes, their semi-permanent nature, the fact that the homes and land are in separate ownership, and a variety of other factors, they are significantly more affordable than other housing, offering opportunities that residents cannot find elsewhere. State law recognizes the unique character of mobilehomes, and allows mobilehome parks to be regulated by rent control, and imposes strict limits on conversion of mobilehome parks to other uses. The County has adopted rent control for these parks (codified at Chapter 1.30 of the County’s Ordinance Code), and intends to propose an ordinance implementing State law regarding park conversions for consideration by the Board of Supervisors this fall.
The new MH Zoning District will continue to recognize the unique value of this land use, and to retain and establish appropriate standards and regulations for creating and maintaining mobilehome parks.
The proposed MH Zoning District would:
a. Remove a number of current standards that are duplicative of State law, instead incorporating these standards by reference to relevant State codes.
b. Remove other standards that are codified in the fire code, building code, and other codes, and are therefore redundant.
c. Move the County’s land use regulations for mobilehomes to their appropriate location in the Zoning Regulations, for consistency, clarity, and ease of application.
d. Retain County standards that differ from or exceed the requirements established by the State.
e. Create a specific zoning district for mobile home parks that acknowledges and incorporates the unique and long-term nature of their residential use.
f. Establish a number of other affordable residential uses that would be the only permissible change in use for areas zoned MH, thereby recognizing that these locations currently provide and should continue to provide an affordable form of housing, unless the County elects to rezone the properties in the future.
As stated previously, the State of California regulates many aspects of mobilehome parks, and limits the ability of local jurisdictions to regulate these parks. The proposed MH Zoning Regulations are designed to maximize County control of permitting and land use to the extent permitted by State law.
The existing Trailer Camp regulations include a number of standards that are taken directly from State law; these standards apply regardless of whether they are repeated in the County’s regulations. As a result, the new MH zoning regulation simply references the relevant sections of State law. This both provides consistency between the County and State regulations, and ensures that as State standards change, the County’s regulations will remain current and accurate.
The new MH zoning regulations would apply the relevant standards for mobilehomes and mobilehome parks incorporated in:
a. California Health and Safety Code Section 18000 et seq. “”Manufactured Housing.”
b. California Code of Regulations, Title 25, Division 1, Chapter 2, “Mobilehome Parks and Installations,” and
c. California Code of Regulations, Title 25, Division 1, Chapter 3, “Factory-Built Housing, Mobilehomes, and Manufactured Homes.”
In addition, the new regulations would establish that mobilehome parks and mobilehomes within them are the principally permitted use, with a use permit, in the MH district. Uses that are ancillary to mobilehome parks would be conditionally permitted (sale of mobilehome parts or accessories, retail stores serving the mobilehome community, management offices, community facilities, and others). Transitional housing, supportive housing, and multifamily affordable housing with long-term affordability restrictions would also be conditionally permitted uses. The new zoning regulations would also apply a new 36-foot height limit for principally permitted uses, with other ancillary uses limited to 28 feet, although a conditionally permitted maximum of 60 feet would be allowed for dedicated affordable housing uses; in the County’s Coastal Zone, the maximum height would be uniformly 28 feet, with a 36 foot conditionally permitted maximum for affordable housing. The regulations would also retain landscaping, fencing, and access requirements, and other general development standards and permitting requirements previously included in the County’s Trailer Camp regulations.
This adoption and application of the new MH Zoning District, and change in General Plan land use designation, are consistent with the existing, ongoing, and long-term use of these properties, and would not result in any change in or intensification of use, or any new development. These changes do not require any new action or new development on the part of owners or residents of the existing mobilehome parks. The proposed changes also do not legalize or formalize any existing zoning or building code violations, or any other violations of County, State, or other regulations.
3. Rezoning and General Plan Map Amendment
As noted above, each of the listed mobilehome parks has been in use as a mobilehome park for a substantial amount of time, providing a unique type of housing in the County. However, while these parks are, and have historically been, residential uses, and while a number of them are situated in areas designated as residential in the County’s General Plan, none of them are specifically zoned for mobilehome use, or for residential uses generally.
The proposed zoning change would apply the new MH Zoning District to all of the parks listed above. In order to ensure consistency between the zoning district and the underlying General Plan land use designation, the proposed General Plan map amendment would also change the land use designation of three of the parks, listed above, to Medium High Density residential, which would be appropriate for and would accommodate all of the uses allowed by the new MH Zoning District. The attached maps show the current zoning, current land use designation, and proposed zoning and General Plan land use map amendments for each of the parks.
4. Outreach and Public Participation
On August 2, 2017, County Staff met with owners, managers, and representatives of the various mobilehome parks in the County, to inform them of the proposed changes. Representatives of all parks in the unincorporated County attended the meeting. Subsequent to the Planning Commission hearing on August 23, 2017, an additional information packet with a description of the project, proposed timeline and process for adoption, and information on opportunities for participation and comment was mailed to all park owners and their representatives. On August 30 and August 31, 2017, Planning and Building Department, Housing Department, and County Counsel staff also held two workshops, on the Coastside and Bayside, respectively, for mobile home park residents, to provide information on the proposed changes. Notice of these workshops, the proposed changes, and opportunities for comment and participation were also mailed to every listed owner/occupant of every mobile home space, and direct notices were provided directly to every mobile home in every effected park.
5. Summary
The proposed new MH Zoning District continues the County’s long-standing commitment to the preservation of mobilehome parks as a unique and valuable source of housing, aligns the County’s regulations with State law, and revises the County’s Ordinance Code to place mobilehome park regulations in the Zoning Regulations. The application of the new MH Zoning District to the listed mobilehome parks, and the alignment of General Plan land use designations with the residential zoning of the parks, ensures that each park is subject to appropriate standards and regulations for permitting, development, and maintenance of mobilehome parks.
B. ALTERNATIVES
The alternative to adoption of the proposed zoning text, zoning map, General Plan map, and Ordinance Code amendments is to forgo any or all of these amendments, maintaining the current Trailer Camp regulations in the Ordinance Code, and/or the current zoning, and/or the current land use designation of any or all of the parks.
C. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The County prepared an Initial Study and Negative Declaration for these amendments. The environmental review determined that there are no potentially significant impacts from adoption of the proposed amendments. The Initial Study and Negative Declaration were posted on July 26, 2017. No comments have been received to date.
D. REVIEWING AGENCIES
County Counsel
County Counsel has reviewed the staff report, ordinance, and resolution as to form.
Approval of this project contributes to the Shared Vision 2025 of a Livable Community by preserving, maintaining, and incentivizing affordable housing.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact to the County from adoption of the proposed ordinance and resolution.
ATTACHMENTS:
A. Map of Mobilehome Parks
B. Map of Proposed Rezoning
C Map of Proposed General Plan Amendments
D. Initial Study and Negative Declaration