BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: SB 23
SENATOR ALAN LOWENTHAL, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: padilla
VERSION: 4/21/09
Analysis by: Carrie Cornwell FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: April 28, 2009
SUBJECT:
Manufactured housing: emergency preparedness plans
DESCRIPTION:
This bill requires an owner or operator of a mobilehome park or
a recreational vehicle park to adopt and post an emergency
preparedness plan.
ANALYSIS:
Under the Mobilehome Parks Act and the Special Occupancy Parks
Act, the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD)
regulates mobilehome parks and recreational vehicle (RV) parks
to assure protection of the health, safety, and general welfare
of all park residents. HCD has adopted statewide regulations to
enforce the acts' provisions. Local agencies, however, have the
option of assuming enforcement authority within their
jurisdictions through agreement with HCD. Enforcement agencies
inspect those mobilehome parks that have a history of health and
safety code violations or about which the agency receives a
complaint regarding a potential health or safety code violation.
Existing law requires that in every mobilehome park and RV park
a person be available in person or by telephonic means to
respond in a timely manner to emergencies concerning the
operation or maintenance of the park. In parks of 50 or more
units, this person or his or her designee shall reside in the
park and have knowledge of the emergency procedures of the
park's utility systems and common facilities.
Existing law also permits, but does not require, mobilehome park
management, but not RV park management, in each park to adopt an
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emergency preparedness plan. If a park does adopt a plan, that
plan must include procedures developed by the Office of
Emergency Services for mobilehome parks.
This bill :
1)Declares the Legislature's intent that a mobilehome park owner
or operator communicate to residents essential information
about evacuation routes and emergency preparedness but states
that it is not the intent of the Legislature that a park owner
or operator be responsible for evacuating residents from their
homes during an emergency.
2)Requires that on or after September 1, 2010, every owner or
operator of a mobilehome park or an RV park adopt an emergency
preparedness plan and allows a park owner or operator to adapt
an existing plan to meet this requirement. In each park,
management shall:
i) Post the plan in the park clubhouse or another
conspicuous area within the park.
ii) Provide each resident with instructions on how to
access and review the plan.
iii) Provide notice to existing park residents and new
residents, as they are approved for tenancy, on how to
access the plan as well as individual emergency
preparedness information from the appropriate state or
local agencies, including the California Emergency
Management Agency.
3)Permits HCD or a local enforcement agency to determine whether
park management has complied with the bill's requirements by
various means including receipt of a copy of the plan, a
photograph of the posted plan, and site inspections conducted
in response to complaints of alleged violations.
4)Requires that park management must correct a violation with 60
days of receiving notice from an enforcement agency and deems
a violation as an unreasonable risk to life, health , or
safety.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose . In October 2008, the Marek fire near Lake View
SB 23 (PADILLA) Page 3
Terrace tragically claimed the life of a homeless man and his
dog, burned over 18,000 acres, and destroyed 49 structures.
Thirty-eight of those structures were mobile homes at the Sky
Terrace Mobile Lodge. On November 15, 2008, the Sayre Fire
devastated the Oakridge Mobile Home Park in Sylmar, destroying
more than 500 homes and scorching over 10,000 acres in the
local foothills. During the fire at the Oakridge Mobile Home
Park, police officers thought they had successfully evacuated
the park only to learn from a local nurse that a number of
seniors with health issues were still in their mobilehomes.
The seniors were ultimately saved as fire overtook the
mobilehome park.
Both of these fires occurred in the author's district. The
author is a member of the Senate Select Committee on
Manufactured Housing and Communities, which in February held a
hearing about what these two fires showed about fire safety
and code enforcement in mobilehome parks. Based on what the
committee learned, the author introduced this bill to ensure
that all mobilehome park residents, especially senior
residents and residents with disabilities and health problems,
can be identified and evacuated in a safe and timely manner in
the event of an emergency. The author notes that without
adopted and active emergency plans there is not only a danger
to residents but also for emergency services personnel who
must spend time and resources checking for people in need of
assistance instead of fighting fires or otherwise responding
to a disaster.
2.Effective date . This bill requires that on or after September
1, 2010, every owner or operator of a mobilehome park or an RV
park adopt an emergency preparedness plan. Because of this
wording, the bill sets no date by which parks must comply and
have emergency plans in place. To correct this problem, the
author or the committee may wish to amend the bill to require
that every owner or operator of a mobilehome park or an RV
park adopt an emergency preparedness plan on or before
September 1, 2010.
3.Technical amendments .
On page 3, line 32, delete "the plan's"
On page 3, delete line 33, and insert "how to access the plan
and information on individual emergency"
On page 4, line 38, delete "the plan's"
On page 4, delete line 39, and insert "how to access the plan
SB 23 (PADILLA) Page 4
and information on individual emergency"
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the Committee before noon on
Wednesday,
April 22, 2009)
SUPPORT: California Fire Chiefs Association (sponsor)
AARP
American Federation of State, County and
Municipal Employees
California Commission on Aging
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
Congress of California Seniors
League of California Cities
County of Los Angeles
Western Center on Law and Poverty
OPPOSED: None received.