The Ashland City Council is considering a package of changes aimed at preserving manufactured home parks and strengthening protections for residents.
Manufactured home parks provide some of Ashland's most affordable housing, but residents can be vulnerable to redevelopment or displacement when parks are sold. City officials say the proposed changes are intended to preserve those communities while giving residents more opportunities to keep their parks in local hands.
One proposal would create a new zoning designation specifically for manufactured home parks.
“The intent is that it would better recognize these communities as a distinct housing type and preserve them to continuously be manufactured home parks without the potential redevelopment under existing residential multifamily zoning," Community Development Director Brandon Goldman told the Planning Commission last week.
The zoning change would initially only apply to Wingspread and Tolman Creek Park. Upper Pines, on Siskiyou Boulevard, is excluded because it lies within Ashland's climate-friendly area, which the city has identified for future mixed-use, walkable development.
The council is also considering whether to extend the timeline tenants have to purchase a manufactured home park if it is put up for sale.
Under Oregon law, park owners must give residents 60 days to buy the property. Residents have 15 days to notify the owner of their interest and another 45 days to submit an offer.
The Planning Commission recommended extending that timeline to 180 days. However, staff asked the council to postpone consideration of that provision until next month while the city completes a legal review.
Planning Commissioner Eric Herron said the commission heard from CASA of Oregon that 120 days would likely provide enough time for residents to organize a purchase.
“If a group told us they could do it in 120 days, and that was enough time. And we say, 'Well, we're making it 180 days,'" said Herron. "I think we're at legal risk for imposing undue hardship on a manufactured home developer.”
CASA of Oregon helped residents purchase Talent Mobile Estates, making it the first resident-owned manufactured home park in Southern Oregon.
The City Council is scheduled to consider the zoning changes Tuesday. A final vote will take place at a future meeting.
