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Home My WebLink AboutItem 03 Mobile Manufactured Home Park Information AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY Meeting Date: 2/25/2013 Meeting Type:Work Session Staff Contact/Dept.: Courtney Griesel, Economic Development Kevin Ko, Housing Staff Phone No: 736-7132 Estimated Time: 20 minutes S P R I N G F I E L D C I T Y C O U N C I L Council Goals: Community and Economic Development and Revitalization ITEM TITLE: MOBILE/MANUFACTURED HOME PARK INFORMATION ACTION REQUESTED: None at this time. ISSUE STATEMENT: In the fall of 2012, staff spoke with Council about potential mobile home park closure concerns and impacts. At the direction of Council, staff has worked to gather data specific to the individual parks located in Springfield, including the Glenwood area. This data provides a beginning foundation to inform next steps for staff and City leaders. ATTACHMENTS: 1. Mobile Home Park Demographics Memorandum 2. Mobile Home Park Demographics Summary Sheet DISCUSSION/ FINANCIAL IMPACT: While no park closures in Springfield are currently identified, City staff remain concerned about future relocation options and the limited City resources available to assist residents should park closures occur. The included park demographic summary sheets are a snapshot of a greater database containing detailed information specific to each mobile home park in the Springfield and Glenwood areas. While the data collection is not yet 100% complete, enough is known to provide Council with an update on different structure, value, and ownership demographics. This data has been provided as Glenwood Area and Springfield Area parks in an effort to generate snapshots specific to different areas of Springfield, affected by different economic development influences. Next Steps: Staff will continue to refine the park data and begin to meet with area housing advocates and community partners to identify areas of trends and possible areas of concern or risk. This exercise should allow staff to begin understanding the potential displacement impacts to specific parks. Staff will then work to develop an outreach plan for engaging park residents in conversations related to park closure concerns. This plan will be brought back to Council for review prior to engaging with park residents. M E M O R A N D U M City of Springfield Date: February 25, 2013 To: Gino Grimaldi, City Manager From: Courtney Griesel, Management Analyst Kevin Ko, Community Development Specialist Subject: MOBILE/MANUFACTURED HOME PARK DEMOGRAPHICS ISSUE: In the fall of 2012, staff spoke with Council about potential mobile home park closure concerns and impacts. At the direction of Council, staff has worked to gather data specific to the individual parks located in Springfield, including the Glenwood area. This data provides a beginning foundation to inform next steps for staff and City leaders. BACKGROUND: Concerns over the potential closure of mobile home parks have been expressed at both the local and state level. As parks mature, issues related to future development, infrastructure needs and mobile home structure can arise. Staff has been working over the past months to gather data important in understanding these issues as they relate to specific areas in Springfield and Glenwood. DISCUSSION: The data discussed here is an initial snapshot of the inventory underway. As staff continues to refine the data and work with area community housing agencies and advocates, the picture painted by this data will continue to become clearer. Ultimately, this picture will help policy makers and staff prepare for conversations with community members and park residents. The ultimate goal of this work will be to identify potential responses and available resources should the community be faced with a park closure. • Structure: Structures in the Glenwood area parks tend to be older in manufacture date than those found in other areas of Springfield. Approximately 67% of all Glenwood structures were manufactured on or before 1974 compared to approximately 43% in other areas of Springfield. It is also notable that only 15% of all mobile home structures in Glenwood are classified as double- wide, while the number more than doubles for the remaining areas in Springfield. The concerns associated with these findings are that, typically, those housing units manufactured off-site before mid-1976 do not meet today’s construction standards for housing. In some cases, structures manufactured after 1976 may also face issues with building code compliance. This becomes a significant issue when determining the ability to relocate a structure to a new site within the City. The data indicates that the large majority of units within the Glenwood area will be at risk for not meeting building code once relocated. Additionally, not all ‘mobile home parks’ or ‘manufactured home parks’ are willing to accept older mobile homes due to the structure risks. • Value: Values of structures vary from park to park. This level of information within the inventory has not yet been completed to a level to provide in this packet, but staff will continue to refine the data to provide Council with a more detailed snapshot of values per park. It can be noted that, based on the information gathered to date, structures located within parks in the Glenwood area, on average, maintain a lower structure value, regardless of structure width. ATTACHMENT 1, PAGE 1 OF 2 ATTACHMENT 1, PAGE 2 OF 2 This, in conjunction with others, becomes an important factor to further explore as a possible indicator of closure or redevelopment. Over time, the value of mobile home structures increase at a significantly slower rate than the value of the land beneath. In some cases, the structure will begin to see a decrease in value while the land continues to increase. This relationship between values acts as a potential indicator that re-development of the land may be on the horizon. Staff will continue to understand this relationship as further data is gathered and assessed. • Owner Occupancy: Determining the status of owner occupancy by park will allow staff to better understand the likely investment level of the resident to their structure. Springfield-wide, the significant majority of mobile home units are owner-occupied. As staff continues to refine the data we will be better able to see differences in ownership from park to park. Understanding this information is important when understanding the resources available to individual park residents. Those residents renting their units will not be eligible for the same relocation payments or tax breaks as those who own their units. Assembling this data has been an extremely beneficial process for staff and area housing partners. We are beginning to understand that the issues related to park closure and the ability to assist residents with relocation needs is going to be increasingly difficult and costly as structures continue to age and values continue to change. NEXT STEPS: Over the next months, staff will continue to refine the park data and begin to meet with area housing advocates and community partners to identify areas of trends and possible areas of concern or risk. This exercise should allow staff to begin understanding the potential displacement impacts to specific parks. Staff will then work to develop an outreach plan for engaging park residents in conversations related to park closure concerns. This plan will be brought back to Council for review prior to engaging with park residents, either just before Council summer recess or just following. ACTION REQUESTED: None at this time. [GLENWOOD AREA MOBILE HOME PARK STRUCTURE DEMOGRAPHICS] Mobile Home Structures in Glenwood Parks by Structure Width ATTACHMENT 2, PAGE 1 OF 3 Approx. 330 Structures Total Average Mobile Home Structure Value in Glenwood Parks by Structure Width Number of Mobile Home Structures in Glenwood Parks by Year of Manufacture ATTACHMENT 2, PAGE 2 OF 3 \\\\\\\\ Approx. 823 Structures Total [SPRINGFIELD AREA MOBILE HOME PARK STRUCTURE DEMOGRAPHICS] Mobile Home Structures in Springfield Parks by Structure Width (excludes Glenwood) Number of Mobile Home Structures in Springfield Parks by Year of Manufacture (excludes Glenwood) Average Mobile Home Structure Value in Springfield Parks by Structure Width (excludes Glenwood) Current as of: February 2013 ATTACHMENT 2, PAGE 3 OF 3 Comparison of Average Mobile Home Structure Values; Glenwood to Other Springfield Areas, by Structure Width [MOBILE HOME PARK STRUCTURE DEMOGRAPHICS ] Owner Occupancy Status for Glenwood and Springfield Area Parks ATTACHMENT 2, PAGE 3 OF 3