Facts

Country Mobile Investments, owners of the 178-unit Country Mobile Home Park in the City of Santa Rosa sought to convert the mobile home park into condominium-style conversions, which would allow tenant to own the spaces they rented. The City, however, blocked the plans by the owner. Residents of the mobile home park, most of whom were seniors, also opposed the plan. They feared they would be pushed out of the park because they would not be able to afford their spaces or the rising rents.

Country Mobile filed a lawsuit against the City, arguing that the City should not have sided with the residents because the plan was a "bona fide" conversion and that the City's opposition essentially gave the residents a "veto" over the property owner's right to subdivide the property.

Result

Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Elliot Daum found that the City appropriately used the residents' survey as a tool during its deliberations in blocking the owner's plan to subdivide the mobile home park.