Santa Maria residents continue efforts for affordable living as mobile home park rents rise

Santa Maria residents continue their efforts for affordable living as rents rise in mobile home parks.

Nancy Truby just moved to the central coast a few years ago. She loves her home at Rancho Buena Vista Estates.

“You can’t beat the weather in California. The Central Coast is wonderful,” Truby said.

But as a senior who’s retired, the cost of living here is getting stressful for her.

Residents and park owners have been turning to the City of Santa Maria for help to maintain affordable living.

The city is working to reach a mutual agreement on a model lease that homeowners and park owners can use.

But Gary Hall, a member of North Santa Barbara County Manufactured Homeowners Team, is worried.

“We love living in California. We want to continue living in California. But at the rate at which our rent is increasing, we’re going to be priced out,” Hall said.

Hall said the lease at Rancho Buena Vista has a minimum of a three percent increase.

“We’re upside down because our income is not able to keep up with the increases,” Hall said.

The city is serving as the facilitator for a group of residents and park owners to negotiate future lease provisions.

Those provisions are being called the enforceable model lease 2020.

As rents rise at rates that go beyond the Social Security cost of living, some are forced to leave.

“I have had friends that had to move out of the park because they couldn’t afford it anymore,” Truby said.

Hall said the next step is he and members of North Santa Barbara County Manufactured Homeowners will attend the next city council meeting to continue sharing their concerns.