Work continues towards an effort to preserve manufactured home parks in the City of Sequim from future redevelopment.

Sequim city councilors unanimously approved another six-month moratorium on Feb. 12 to prevent any redevelopment of mobile/manufactured home parks in the city until a new zone is created that protects the home-types.

The moratorium runs through Aug. 14.

Doug Wright, a manufactured home resident, said at the Feb 12 meeting he sees hope in the city’s actions.

“I see seniors with hope finally because something has been done to alleviate the fear they live with everyday,” he said.

Wright said with the city creating provisions to preserve residents’ homes, it “can actually extend life for some of these people.”

City councilors directed staff last June to look into a manufactured home overlay to protect park residents from potentially losing their homes to a redevelopment project. The first moratorium was approved in August.

City attorney Kristina Nelson-Gross previously said the city’s Department of Community Development is authorized under the moratorium to reject and return any application if an applicant/owner applies to redevelop a manufactured home park for anything other than that type of use.

Kim Mahoney, a principal planner with LDC working as a consultant to the city on the council directives, said on Feb. 12 the planning commission agreed to focus efforts on three things: revising goals and policies of the Comprehensive Plan for manufactured home parks; adopting a new zone, zone overlay, and/or zoning code language, and establishing a housing authority to purchase manufactured/mobile home parks or support nonprofit preservation organizations, resident buy back programs, or resident-owned communities.

According to city staff, a Manufactured Home Park overlay doesn’t affect the parks, and measures and/or regulations could be created to limit redevelopment or further regulate uses.

Staff report they hope to have changes approved by the city council in August with multiple opportunities for public comment throughout the coming months.

The planning commission will work the next two months to review the three options and sometime in April or May, and the commission’s recommendations will go to the city council for consideration for possible edits, according to city documents.

Through May, staff will also draft Sequim Municipal Code language and Comprehensive Plan materials, such as maps that show proposed options.

Between May and July, city staff plan to issue a State Environmental Policy Act threshold determination with a public comment period, and then refine materials for the Department of Commerce for review.

In July, the planning commission will host its final public hearing prior to council recommendation, and the city council will host public hearing(s) in July and/or August.

13 parks

There are 13 manufactured home/mobile home parks in the City of Sequim, with 596 existing units and 786 approved dwelling units.

Sequim previously had a mobile home/manufactured home parks zone prior to a 2015 Comprehensive Plan update, but now the parks are within four different zoning districts.

Manufactured home residents have testified for more than a year to city leaders and staff that rent and/or leases continue to go up and that many of them are on fixed incomes and increases are making it difficult to buy necessities.

They’ve also feared that as manufactured home parks are being sold, they could be redeveloped.

Judy Hatch, a manufactured home resident, spoke at the city’s Feb. 6 planning commission meeting, saying her park has seen an increase of $125 more a month and that for some people that equals their monthly food costs.

She’s also been concerned about her park’s owner potentially selling and losing her home to redevelopment without anywhere to go.

“You can’t move these mobile homes,” she said. “We live with this everyday.

“I wake up every morning asking, ‘Is this the day I have to be out?’”

Annette Hanson, another manufactured home resident, said on Feb. 12 concerns for manufactured parks has been much of her and other residents’ focus as she’s seen her rent increase by 51% the last three years.

“If you look at the profits (owners) are making, it’s outrageous,” she said. Hanson also encouraged the city council to protect manufactured home owners.

In the state legislature, bills remain in committee as of press deadline, such as HB 2114 and SB 5961 that limit annual rent increases to 7%, and require a six-month notice before making increases.

Last year, SB 5198 and HB 1129 passed that require landlords to provide notice when listing a park for sale and three years notice when closing or converting it to a different land use.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash West Alder Estates, a manufactured home park, aligns next to Clallam County Fire District 3’s station 34 and its training tower. The manufactured home park is one of 13 in the City of Sequim, and city councilors directed staff last June to create an overlay to protect parks like West Alder from redevelopment in an effort to preserve affordable homes in the city.