The Brief
- Residents of the Marin Valley Mobile Country Club are fighting to ensure their community remains affordable and transitions to resident ownership as reportedly agreed upon decades ago.
- The national nonprofit organization “You Are the Power” is assisting the 400 residents in their dispute with the city of Novato over the future of the 311-unit park.
- While residents claim a 30-year-old agreement promised a transfer of ownership once $30 million in bonds were repaid, city officials have not responded to requests for comment.
NOVATO, Calif. – Residents of a major affordable mobile home park in Novato say they are continuing a decades-long fight to keep their community in their own hands. The 400 residents who live in the 311 homes that comprise the Marin Valley Mobile Country Club fear losing their community and are now receiving assistance from You Are the Power, a nationwide tax-exempt organization that uses social media to help citizens navigate local government disputes.
What was promised
The backstory:
Three decades ago, the city of Novato floated bonds to support low-income, affordable housing. The agreement dictated that residents would pay for all bonds, expenses, and maintenance at no cost to the city. With those bonds set to be paid off next year, residents maintain the deal included a major provision: a transfer of ownership.
“We were promised. Couldn’t be in writing at the time, but we were promised that at the end of this transaction, when the bonds were retired, that we would be transferred the park for the benefit of the residents into a nonprofit corporation,” said David Kenyon, who served as the residents’ attorney and broker when the original deal was reached.…