Developer’s payments for mobile-home residents’ relocations OK’d by Newport council

Though several residents of Ebb Tide Mobile Home Park don’t believe they’re receiving a fair price to move from their homes, they will face challenges in negotiating a higher amount.

The Newport Beach City Council on Tuesday night unanimously approved a report detailing the effects of relocation on Ebb Tide residents, who are being asked to leave to make room for a proposed housing development.

The state-mandated impact report, which details protections for mobile-home owners, including options for relocation, had to be approved by the City Council before residents could be required to leave, according to the report.

The council’s approval means the developer, Ebb Tide LLC, will not have to revise any of its proposals, including the price paid for relocation, according to city staff.

Paragon Partners, an independent consultant hired by the city to review the document, found it acceptable.

“These are hard things to wrestle with,” Councilman Tony Petros said.

Ebb Tide residents were told in July that they may have to leave the 73-space mobile home park on Placentia Avenue as early as May.

However, city staff said Tuesday night that the move-out is likely to be next year, when the developer has secured all the necessary permits for its project, which calls for 83 single-family homes of about 1,600 to 2,100 square feet, according to city documents.

Mobile-home residents shared stories of financial and personal hardship and urged the City Council to ask Ebb Tide LLC to revise the impact report to offer them what they feel is a more reasonable price for their homes.

The company has proposed paying $9,000 to $15,700, depending on the size of the home, according to the impact report. Many families will not be able to move their mobile homes to other parks because the units are too old to meet the parks’ requirements, residents say. Some of the homes have been in the park since the 1960s.

Ten residents contend that for those prices, they would be unable to afford a new mobile home in a park as nice as Ebb Tide, which is about a mile from the ocean. Down payments on mobile homes in nearby parks can cost $100,000, resident June Maier said.

“We’re just looking for fair,” resident Jeff Wolfe said. “The loss of our home … it’s not just relocation, it’s our life being torn apart.”

However, Ebb Tide LLC representatives said they have complied with all legal requirements and have gone above and beyond to negotiate higher prices.

Some families who have separate agreements with the developer will receive about $35,000 to relocate, residents said.

Maier, who has lived in the park for about four years, said the 10-member group is not through fighting.

“We are full of energy now,” she said. “We are going to continue to explore as many avenues as possible to achieve our goals of a more equitable monetary solution that will enable our people to move into a similar place.”