Palo Alto is requiring owners of a mobile home park to pay $8M to help tenants relocate when they close the park, an action the owners argue violates their constitutional rights.
The Pacific Legal Foundation filed a lawsuit on behalf of the owners of the Buena Vista Mobile Home Park in US District Court last week, claiming the financial demand by the city violates the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, reports the San Jose Mercury News. The lawsuit also alleges that the city is requiring the owners to pay more than the "reasonable costs of relocation" in violation of state law.
The Jisser family, owners of the Buena Vista Mobile Home Park, wish to close the park and build something new on the land, their attorney says. The family has owned the property at 3980 El Camino Real since 1986. In May, Palo Alto City Council voted to let them close the park as long as they paid 100% of the fair market value for the tenants' homes and a rent subsidy to cover the difference for one year between average rents for local apartments and the average at the mobile park.
The city's attorney says Palo Alto has followed both state law and the city's mobile home park conversion ordinance. Meanwhile, the Buena Vista Mobile Home Park Residents Association also is suing the city, claiming the relocation assistance is not adequate. Back in September, the owners rejected a $39M bid from the county and city to buy the park for affordable housing, stating the residents' lawsuit would keep them from getting fair market value for the site. [SJMN]
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