Santa Monica City Council. Photo courtesy of its official website.

SANTA MONICA—On Tuesday, December 6, the Santa Monica City Council voted 4-3 in favor of exploring whether the owner of the Village Trailer Park on Colorado Avenue near Stewart Street would be willing to sell the four acres of property and at what price as part of the process of the city negotiating the terms of a rent control removal permit.

Councilmember Kevin McKeown, who brought the matter to the attention of the governing body for the fourth time, made the motion for a vote to direct city staff to explore all available options to keep the trailer park's elderly residents in their homes. This included looking into the possibility of buying the property itself or swapping it for other land that is owned by the City of Santa Monica. This vote and another that would have called for staff to explore funding options for purchasing the park failed.

The third option to enter into informal talks with Village Trailer Park's owner Mark L. Luzzatto to see if he would consider selling came after the council discussed with the City Attorney Marsha Jones Moutrie and City Manager Ron Gould the current value of the land, which staff and local residents had indicated could be anywhere from $4-$30 million. Moutrie and Gould said the exact value of the 109-space trailer park is unclear while it is in the process of being rezoned from one use to another.

Moutrie said that acquisition would be the only viable option to save the trailer park, but that such a move risks legal consequences given that the city has entered into a memorandum of understanding with Luzzatto that has prevented tenant evictions. Councilmember Bobby Shriver elaborated, saying that the legal clout is not really with the city, that it would have been powerless to stop Luzzatto from having evicted the park's residents five years ago and that courts side with property owners in these matters.

Village Trailer Park looks like a tight-knit community from the outside, but it could be torn apart if they are forced to move out.

Shriver also said that contemplating acquisition could put at risk any benefit that the city might receive while negotiating a development agreement. Negotiations have included talks of a tenant relocation plan that would include Luzzatto setting aside affordable units for extremely low income earners, tenants' relocation to a city-owned Stewart Street trailer park and Section 8 housing.

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