Mobile Home Park Problems

[rpost]

I have done some research on this and believe I am up to date on the rules for surveying mobile home parks. Correct me if I am wrong, but if the individual lots are under private ownership, a Record of Survey needs to be filed to mark out the lines. That is, of course, if one has not been filed already.

Here is my situation.

A mobile home contractor that we do surveying and engineering for asked me to call the director of a large park nearby. Apparently the surveyor who was marking the lots has retired, the park is looking for his replacement. As it turns out, the park has been subdivided (condo plan) and each lot is under separate ownership. Furthermore, the surveyor who is retiring was actually the one who signed the condo plan in the 80's.

I spoke with him and apparently he has been marking the lots for the last 30 years for the park. Once he finds/sets markers (no tags, just nails) he delivers a signed and stamped plat to the park for their records. Apparently he does this for around $500. He has never filed a Record of Survey for this development.

The park requires all corners to be set prior to bringing on a new coach, but the survey is to be paid for by the property owner. I can't imagine charging each owner to file a Record of Survey for every lot I mark. I am meeting Monday with the park to discuss options. Any advice?

R. Post

[Warren Smith]

SMA section 66428.1 covers mobilehome park conversions to resident ownership. The requirement for a parcel map or tentative map and final map shall be waived by the local agency. Floating home marinas were added to this section in 2013. There are a couple of conditions to be met, such as no greater number of condominium units created than existed prior to the conversion, or an exterior boundary discrepancy, but it sounds like that was covered 30 years ago.
Mobilhome parks are regulated under Health and Safety Code sections 50781 et seq.

[rpost]

Thanks Warren. Either way though, I think the LS Act is pretty clear about filing a ROS if no map was filed and the lots are private ownership.

[Warren Smith]

Well, you sure can't file a corner record.
If the original map is exempt, why wouldn't retracement be? Different Codes, I know.
The legislature was clear that affordable housing was the impetus for these statutes, so enacted the provisions of the Health and Safety code.
Are airspace limits required to be documented by an RS?
As nice as an RS would be for posterity of mobile home park unit locations, it doesn't seem to rise to the level of the public interest as the usual filings.
Sad to say, but cemeteries are also exempt from the normal subdivision mapping requirements, but are also regulated by - you guessed it - provisions of the Health and Safety Code.
I'm sure that you could file an RS, but I don't see it as being mandatory.
So here I am, advocating the non necessity of filing a map, but it seems to me a bit like filing for monumenting assigned parking spaces.

[Warren Smith]

PLSA section 8765 (e) speaks to a record of survey not being required for a survey of a mobilehome park interior lot but, you're right, once a conversion to residential ownership takes place, the exemption does not apply.
It seems that the prudent course of action would be to file an RS of the entire park interior lots, showing existing dimensions and any (tagged) monumentation - including retracement of the exterior boundary, then a series of corner records would suffice for future monumentation.

[LS8776]

Hi Ryan,

I'm currently working on the same type of project in Tarzana, CA. We should talk.

Glen Canterberry
661-809--7372
glen@calengr.com