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BACKGROUND The Vineyard Villa Mobile Home Park is a 208-unit mobile home park in which residents own their own "mobile homes" but the land upon which the mobile homes are located is owned by the Park owner. The mobile home residents pay monthly rent to the Park owner in addition to paying utilities such as electricity, gas, and cable TV. Historically, and now by written agreement with the City, the Park is a "senior park," meaning that at least one of the residents in a unit must be at least 55 years old. In June 2007, the property owner, through its legal representatives, submitted an application for a Vesting Tentative Map to convert the Park from a rental property to one in which residents would own not only their mobile homes but would also have the opportunity to own their own "lots/spaces" (for purposes of the Subdivision Map Act, the lots would be considered condominiums). This conversion would not require any physical change to the property; thus, the Park would still appear as if it were a mobile home park. If the application is approved it will allow individual residents to own not only their mobile homes but also the spaces on which the mobile homes sit. The conversion will not immediately change the senior status of the Park nor the rents that are charged under the Rent Stabilization Agreement that the Park owner has with the City. For more background information, see the February 25, 2009 Planning Commission staff report (Attachment 6) and the memorandum of the City Attorney to the Planning Commission dated February 19, 2009, including the Questions and Answers that were attached to that memo (collectively, Attachment 9). On February 25, 2009, the Planning Commission denied the application on a number of grounds discussed in more detail below. Within the time permitted under the Code, the property owner filed an appeal to that denial (please see Attachment 4). DISCUSSION The conversion of rental mobile home parks to residential ownership is governed by the Subdivision Map Act (SMA). Government Code Section 66427.5 limits the authority of the City to review such applications, requiring only that: (1) the applicant submit a "survey of support" of the residents, and (2) the applicant submit a report on "the economic impact of conversion upon the residents." In staff's view, the applicant met both of these requirements. As described below, the Planning Commission did not agree that its jurisdiction was limited to these two issues, and it did not feel that the requirement for the survey of support had been adequately met. Planning Commission Decision After receiving public testimony and discussing the application, the Planning Commission unanimously denied the application (PMCC-2) at its February 25, 2009 meeting. The primary concerns raised by the Commission were whether the survey conducted by the Park owner demonstrated resident support for the conversion and the Page 2 of 6