The ordinance
A fairness ordinance for Encinitas.
On October 28 the City Council adopted an urgency ordinance, 5–0. Here is what it does, what the permanent ordinance should include, and how other California cities already protect these homes.
The ask: three things
Step one is done: the urgency ordinance passed, 5–0.
On October 28 the City Council unanimously adopted Urgency Ordinance 2026-16. Space fees are held at their October 28 level, and increases noticed for November 1 don’t take effect. From here a park owner may raise a space fee only once in any 12-month period, by no more than the lesser of 4% or 75% of San Diego-area inflation (about 3.5% today). It lasts until July 30, 2027, or until a permanent ordinance takes effect. Everything it does →
Next: City Manager Jennifer Campbell says staff will hold several workshops, with residents and with park owners, and expects a draft permanent ordinance around February 2027. Staff brings it to the Council for feedback, then back for a final vote.
A moratorium before November 1 (done)
Adopted unanimously on October 28. It holds space fees at their October 28 level, stops increases noticed for November 1, and allows only one capped increase per space per year until a permanent ordinance takes effect.
A permanent fairness ordinance
City staff will hold workshops with residents and with park owners and expects a draft around February 2027, then returns to the Council for a public hearing and adoption.
The urgency ordinance protects households while that work is done carefully and without loopholes.
A manufactured home park overlay
A zoning protection that keeps park land in park use, so a park can’t be turned into condos or apartments without a full public process.
It can move forward at the same time as the permanent ordinance. What an overlay is →
An urgency ordinance takes effect immediately and needs four of the Council’s five votes (Gov. Code §§ 36934, 36937). Encinitas’s passed with all five.
Why the moratorium came first
A good permanent ordinance takes time, research and care. Without a freeze in the meantime, that time is exactly when fees go up.
- When cities take up space fees, owners often raise them before the rules arrive. Los Angeles County found this in 2018; Fortuna documented one park’s fees up 96% from 2013 to 2025.
- Read Sharon Henderson’s account →
- The first of this year’s Riviera increases were set for November 1, four days after the October 28 Council meeting: hikes of up to 17.3% on space fees already more than $2,000 a month. The urgency ordinance stopped them.
- A freeze at the date of adoption changes nothing a park owner already collects. It simply holds things still while the City decides.
How Fortuna did it, in about six months
Fortuna, in Humboldt County, is among the most recent California cities to adopt a manufactured home space-fee ordinance. It took the same first two steps we are asking Encinitas to take: a moratorium, then a permanent ordinance.
- September 29, 2025
Urgency moratorium adopted, 4–1
Paused space-fee increases at every park in the city, using the fee in effect that day as the base. The park owners offered a voluntary agreement instead; residents called it unenforceable, and the owners’ attorney warned of litigation. The Council acted anyway.
- October 2025 – March 2026
Staff drafts the permanent ordinance
Fees held still while the rules were written.
- April 6, 2026
Permanent ordinance adopted, 4–1
Increases tied to Western U.S. inflation, capped at 5% and no more than once a year; no increase when a home is sold in place; capital improvements only with advance approval; a fair-return hearing before an independent hearing officer.
- 18 months later
Built-in review
The Council must review whether the ordinance is working.
Sources: Lost Coast Outpost, Sept. 30, 2025; Lost Coast Outpost, Apr. 7, 2026; City of Fortuna ordinance documents.
What a fairness ordinance includes
The details are the City’s to write. These are the elements the strongest California ordinances share.
Increases tied to inflation
A clear yearly formula based on the Consumer Price Index, with a cap, so residents and owners both know what to expect.
No reset on sale
The fee stays with the space when a home is sold to a buyer who keeps it there. This protects the value of the home.
A guaranteed fair return
Any owner who believes the rules deny a fair return can petition an independent hearing officer for a higher increase.
Approved improvements
Real capital improvements can be passed through, with advance approval, spread over the life of the improvement.
Protection from retaliation
No penalty for organizing, joining a homeowners’ association, or speaking to the City.
Paid for by a small per-space fee
Programs are commonly funded by an annual per-space fee, so the City is not left carrying the cost.
Does this need the Coastal Commission, or a Prop A vote? An ordinance like this sets what can be charged for an existing space. It does not rezone land, change density, or authorize any development, which are the things the Local Coastal Program and Prop A govern. That is our reading as residents; the City Attorney will advise the Council.
Other San Diego County cities already do this
Roughly 100 California cities and counties regulate manufactured home space fees. Here in San Diego County:
| City | Yearly increase | Fee held when a home is sold? |
|---|---|---|
| Oceanside City Code Ch. 16B, in place since the 1980s | 75% of San Diego inflation, 8% maximum | Yes |
| Escondido Proposition K, voter-approved (1988) | Reviewed by a Rent Review Board; short form presumes 90% of inflation | Partly: up to 8% on an in-place sale |
| Chula Vista Mun. Code Ch. 9.50 | 100% of inflation up to 3%; 75% above that | No |
| Santee Mun. Code Ch. 2.44 | Formula based on inflation; about 4.1% effective maximum | Yes |
| San Marcos Mun. Code Ch. 16.16 | Council reviews increases when residents of half the spaces petition | Not addressed |
Encinitas adopted its first, a temporary urgency ordinance, on October 28, 2026. No space-fee ordinance was found for Carlsbad, San Diego, Poway, Solana Beach, Del Mar, Coronado or La Mesa. Vista has a voluntary accord only. National City replaced its ordinance with agreements with park owners in 2025.
Escondido’s ordinance went to the U.S. Supreme Court, which upheld it unanimously in Yee v. City of Escondido, 503 U.S. 519 (1992).
What opponents say, and the answers
Programs are paid for by an annual per-space fee and owner-paid petition costs. Oceanside, Santee and Yucaipa run theirs without a large staff.
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld Escondido’s ordinance unanimously. A clear inflation formula, a prompt fair-return hearing before an independent officer, and a per-space fee to fund it are what hold up in court.
Approved capital improvements can be passed through. Cutting services is treated as an illegal increase, and failing to maintain common facilities is already a nuisance under state law.
Manufactured homes are disproportionately owned by lower-income households, and an ordinance can be limited to a homeowner’s principal residence (Civil Code § 798.21).
New spaces are exempt for 15 years by state law (Civil Code § 798.45). Encinitas’s parks are existing housing that would be very costly to replace.
A voluntary agreement binds only the owners who sign it and usually gives residents no way to enforce it. An ordinance applies to every park, and the Council can amend it.
Closing or changing the use of a park requires an impact report and relocation help under state law (Gov. Code § 65863.7). And under a fairness ordinance, every owner is still guaranteed a fair return.
Thank the Council, then help write the permanent ordinance.
A short thank-you goes into the record and reminds the Council we’re watching. Then come to the workshops: join our email list to hear the dates first.