photo credit: Noah Abrams/KRCB
Little Woods residents at a gathering in August 2023; where residents made clear their desire to prevent evictions at the mobile home park.

Residents of the Little Woods mobile home villa in Petaluma are searching for a way forward after receiving eviction notices en masse recently.

It's the latest move in a protracted fight between dozens of residents hoping to keep an affordable roof overhead; city leaders trying to balance complicated rules and tenant rights; and mobile home park owners who say their right to a fair profit is being violated.

KRCB's Noah Abrams caught up with Jennifer Sawhney of the Petaluma Argus-Courier about the situation.

Noah Abrams: "Jennifer Sawhney, welcome to KRCB. So, can you tell me a little bit just to start about Little Woods?"

"Where is it? How long has it been in operation? You know, how many people live there? Those kinds of things."

Jennifer Sawhney: "Hey Noah, so Little Woods Mobile Villa is in Petaluma, the south end of Petaluma off Lakeville Highway. It's a 78 space park, multi-generational park. There's a lot of Spanish-speaking families. There's also a lot of older families and older residents, and that park has been kind of at the forefront of some big mobile home concerns here in Petaluma."

NA: "Yeah, maybe say a little bit more about that. The residents have been dealing with eviction notices, now a closure notice, all sorts of back and forth between them and the ownership. So, what's been happening there for the past couple of years now?"

JS: "Yeah, so I believe it was back September of 2023 where they got their first notice of major rent increases. And some of these rent increases total to about, I would say, over 300% rent increase for some. Some residents have been living there for, gosh, more than 29 years, some 30 years. And it's been overseen largely by Nick Ubaldi, who is an employee of Harmony Communities that manages the park."

"A lot of the residents first faced rent increases back in 2023, and then dealt with arbitration hearings and [have] been going back and forth through a legal process, a lengthy, costly legal process since then and this latest action last week came in the form of termination, of eviction notices."

NA: "What have residents told you? I assume that folks are scared and probably shocked to to hear that it seems like they're going to be evicted and the park will be closed. At least that's the owner's intention."

JS: "Yeah. Residents are fearful, they're scared, but they've been working together. They've been organizing with one another. Considering this is a Harmony Communities property, a lot of them have also been in contact with residents at other Harmony Communities properties across the state."

"The company manages or owns upwards of 30 parks in California and in Oregon, and some of them say that these tactics that they've seen at their park have also been done in other parks in California, and in Oregon. So they've been reaching out to others. They've been organizing with other residents here in Petaluma, also at Youngstown, off McDowell [Boulevard], as well as residents at Capri Mobile Villa, also managed by Harmony Communities."

NA: "What's been the city's response? The Harmony owners have been pretty disappointed, if not angered, and threatened legal action over Petaluma's regulations surrounding mobile home parks. Has the the city said that they've received notification [of the closure]. Are they prepared to go through the termination process for the park and shut it down? What are they saying?"

JS: "Great question. So owners are pretty unhappy with the city's response. A lot of this bubbled up with Little Woods in response to the city updating its mobile home residency laws back in 2023. [Petaluma's] City council in particular has been really supportive of residents. They've said time and time again at city council meetings that they intend to fully support residents and go through these legal battles with them."

"Little Wood's owners, as well as the owners of Youngstown, they've filed lawsuits against the City of Petaluma. The City of Petaluma has also filed lawsuits in return. But owners are saying that the city's rules are stifling them, they're unconstitutional, and the city's expectations for these costly closure impact reports are really unrealistic and they just don't feel like the city truly supports their business goals."

NA: "So definitely an impasse there."

JS: "Another thing I want to add is that a lot of residents here, mobile home residents in particular, see this as kind of a litmus test for the bigger issue at the state level. So I'm curious to see how this plays out, what happens next, and if this will have ramifications across the state."

NA: "Absolutely. If folks want to read more and keep up with your coverage, where can they do so?"

JS: "Yes, I work for the Petaluma Argus-Courier, so visit Petaluma360.com."

NA: "Jennifer, thanks so much for speaking with me."