Surf and Sand showdown tonight in Capitola

Thursday, August 27, 2009
Jondi Gumz
San Jose Mercury News

CAPITOLA -- If the Capitola City Council backs the recommendation of city staff tonight, the owner of the Surf and Sand Mobile Home Park will not get a green light to close the park in November as he had hoped.

A special meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 420 Capitola Ave.

Ron Reed, whose parents opened the 73-space mobile home park some 50 years ago at 750 47th Ave., notified residents in 2008 that he wanted to shut it down in 2009. He has not submitted any plans to develop the site, but residents who benefit from rent control that keeps space payments low were shocked to learn their homes were in jeopardy. Last month, the city Planning Commission recommended denial of the coastal development permit needed to close the park, which fronts the ocean.

Reed's attorneys appealed, contending the city cannot require a coastal permit to close the park, that the Mello Act does not apply and that the city has no discretion to deny closure. The Mello Act is a state law that seeks to preserve affordable housing in California's coastal zone.

Jamie Goldstein, the city's community development director, disagreed on all three points.

With a valuable piece of real estate that is home to people who say they can't afford to live elsewhere, the dispute has become quite emotional on both sides.

"This matter is inherently adversarial," C. William Dahlin, the Santa Ana attorney representing the mobile home park owner, stated in a lengthy
letter to Planning Commissioner Ed Newman.

Dahlin contended the residents' proposal to buy the park for $7.3 million, about $100,000 per space, represented one-third to half of the land's real value.

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