On Tuesday, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors to ban rent at RV parks from outpacing inflation.
It鈥檚 the same rule, passed by voters in 2016 as Measure V, that applies to mobile-home communities. Now, RV parks with 10 or more lots where residents stay for at least nine months will be under the rent-control ordinance.
Shelly Horowitz, a resident at Trinidad Extended Stay RV in Humboldt County for the last seven years, told the board that RV parks can be a last resort for affordable housing in the area.
鈥淲e have some of the county's most vulnerable residents here in this park鈥� who are really struggling to make ends meet and are in RVs full time because they can't afford a mobile home,鈥� said Horowitz.
At that board meeting, Alan Stevenson, with the Sacramento-based BoaVida Group, an RV park investment firm that now owns Trinidad Extended Stay RV, said rent there has outpaced inflation by around 2%. But, he added, his company has spent around $400,000 in water and sewer improvements. He said including RV parks in the ordinance meant for mobile-home communities is illegal.
鈥淚 would suggest that because of how this process has transpired, the needs of both residents and owners need to be put aside at this point and that we should all focus on the law,鈥� said Stevenson. 鈥淭he ordinance clearly does not apply to RVs in terms of voter intent, plain language or the law.鈥�
He said the Humboldt County Counsel was incorrect to say otherwise.
鈥淚 believe the Board of Supervisors is being misled and possibly lied to by county staff," said Stevenson.
The county's counsel, meanwhile, said that extension of the ordinance was legally defensible.
Nonetheless, supervisors said they expect a lawsuit from RV park owners. The expanded rent control measure is estimated to apply to around 150 units in the county.
Supervisor Mike Wilson went on to criticize the trend of investment firms purchasing RV parks in the area.
鈥淚t's centralizing ownership and it's not good for our local economy. It's not good for housing,鈥� said Wilson.
The nonprofit has reported on investment firms snapping up mobile home and RV parks around the country.
The BoaVida group, according to , owns nine parks with over 1,557 spaces and has assets of $113 million.
