Thread by @shayshinecastle

Moving on: Some tweaks to Boulder's mobile home ordinances, which tries to provide protection for residents there. Presentation: www-static.bouldercolorado.gov/docs/Item_1D_M…

In case you ever want to read Boulder's mobile home ordinance for yourself, it's Chapter 10-12 of the BRC (Boulder Revised Code)

There are 1,300 households in the city who live in mobile homes, across 5 parks

The city's Manufactured Housing Strategy was adopted last year
boulderbeat.news/2019/02/24/mob…

A history of state and local mobile home protections:
1991: State Mobile Home Park Act (MHPA) enacted

2010: MHPA updated.

2015: Ordinance No. 8043 introduced into the Boulder Revised Code three local resident protections or landlord-tenant provisions not included in the MHPA, including:
o 10-12-25. Limitation on the Prohibition Sales of Mobile Homes ...

o 10-12-26. Limitation on Required Upgrades to Existing Mobile Homes.
o 10-12-27. Trees. (park owners responsible for maintaining those)

2017: Ordinance No. 8216 introduces additional provisions to address landlord- tenant relations.
o 10-12-28. Right to Privacy.
o 10-12-29. Retaliation Prohibited.
o 10-12-30. Mediation of Disputes.

2019: House Bill 19-1309. Mobile Home Park Act Oversight establishes a state Dispute Resolution and Enforcement Program.

2020: House Bill 20-1196. Mobile Home Park Act Updates.

2020: House Bill 20-1201. Mobile Home Park Residents Opportunity to Purchase.

Specific changes Boulder is considering tonight: Translation requirement is being changed to only require posted, written noticed in English and the community’s second-dominant language (rather than translation services being paid for by park owners)

Eliminates requirement to ID lot dimensions

Receipts only have to be provided for rent payments when one is requested

Landlord-tenant disputes will move to municipal court (currently BOZA or Building Appeals)

Mediation will be voluntary, at the discretion of enforcement staff, rather than mandatory

Lastly, in writing, landlords must provide: 5-yr history of rent increases; pet occupancy rules; late payment charges and/or disputed checks; recreational facilities and their fees; 60-day notice of change in location or dimension of lot

I'm bummed I didn't have time to write something about this, like I did last year. But elections, emails, lawsuits... it's all becoming quite a bit.

Apparently lot sizes change not infrequently, when new, larger mobile homes move in...? According to Boulder's Crystal Launder.

That seems... problematic, since you're paying to rent the lot.

Friend with a q: Should we move forward with these changes tonight and then come back to address additional concerns?

Apparently there are onerous requirements before a mobile home owner can sell their home to a new owner.

Young: How will we know these rules are being followed?
Launder: It's complaint-based.

Wallach asking about the pitiful public participation: 4 Be Heard Boulder responses (English and Spanish)
9 attendees at Zoom meetings
~12 emails

How do we make it better? he asks.
Launder: It's a bandwidth issue. There's a lot going on.

"We're entirely relying on remote connection to households," she says.

Doesn't mention it, but there are issues with internet connectivity and access to devices within mobile home parks, the city has previously reported.

We're in public hearing but I don't have a list of speakers for some reason. (They usually post them online.) No idea how many folks are here.

Renée Hummel, from Vista Village: There's a lot of "trauma" around trying to sell and move out of the community.

"People are really suffering from things that are happening."

"This is an area that needs to be addressed. Some parts of it can't be fixed through ordinance, but some things can. ... I really hope it can happen soon."

"There are ppl who will be selling soon or are in the process of selling who are having difficulties," Hummel says.

Speaking of difficulties... this poor speaker Mark can't stop muting himself. Apparently a Zoom hack is to hold down the space key the whole time you're talking? That sounds horrible.

Aimee Bove, a lawyer for the mobile home parks, praising "the compromise" in the city's ordinance around interpretation and addressing concern about "additional regulations."

It's been a lot of regulation all at once, Bove says. "We need a little time to breath and see how it works."

Hmm... where have I heard that before?

"Please be mindful that your regulations don't duplicate or hinder what's going on, advocated by Rep. Hooton for two years, going forward," Bove says.

Mark is going to try again.

"The state law is pretty strict" when it comes to selling mobile homes, Mark R. says (missed his last name). "Insisting on draconian changes" to the law is one way to make a sale harder ... The seller may give up" or be forced to sell to the park's preferred real estate company.

Wasn't sure what "side" he was on but then he referred to park owners' "shenanigans."

"This has been the modus operandi ... for decades."

Let us keep working on this issue and create new protections, Mark R says.

That's it for public hearing.

Young wants to move tonight's changes forward and keep working on additional protections. Wallach agrees and makes the motion.

Should be relatively straightforward. Not a lot of controversy around trying to protect Boulder's lowest-income residents.

No discussion. Unanimous vote.

Oh, wait, it's gotta be a roll call vote, not a show of hands.
Idk when it's one and when it's the other. Maybe I'll have @emmaathenam find out and put it in the Gov't 101 piece.

Anyway, still unanimous.

@threadreaderapp please unroll. Thanks!