‘Why should we pay property tax on land we don’t actually own?’ But McLeod is still left with a sour feeling, and believes a 450 percent increase in property tax assessments to residents is too much to handle at once. Santa Rosa’s 14 privately owned mobile home parks have a total of 2,008 spaces. Of those 14, two have undergone “condo conversion,” meaning the residents own their individual spaces; Rancho San Miguel is not one of those. Out of Rancho San Miguel’s 141 spaces, 124 are regulated under Santa Rosa’s rent-control ordinance, which has been in effect since 1993. Residents are now concerned that the switch from ownership by a family business to an investment firm will mean more expenses for tenants. “They’re going through everything to maximize their profitability, and any little things they can pass through, they’re going to do it,” says McLeod. “It could all of a sudden not be an affordable place to live anymore.”
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Park Life
NORTH BAY BOHEMIAN | FEBRUARY 13–19, 2013 | BOHEMIAN.COM
ones, says O’Hagan. “We don’t know what the prior ownership passed through. I can’t comment on what they did.” Marjorie Jackson of the city’s housing development department met with park owners and residents in December after a petition circulated in the park attracted 111 signatures, and reports that both parties came to an agreement that an increase retroactive to April would be spread out over a longer period, which cut by about $7 per month the immediate increase to residents.
Skateboarders, gardeners, hikers and coffee lovers in Monte Rio just got great news. An abandoned school site has been approved for conversion into a park that will include a skatepark, community farm, hiking trail and cafe. The $1.4 million project is possible through a $329,000 grant from the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District and $995,000 of former redevelopment funds. The skatepark is assisted by $5,000 from the Tony Hawk Foundation. Construction of the 2.8-acre park will begin this week and should be finished this year. After a 20year vacancy, children’s laughter (and possibly some crying from the skatepark) will once again be heard at the former school site. Efforts are also planned to restore Schoolhouse and Dutch Bill creeks for salmon and steelhead. Another boon to outdoor recreation saw the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors approve the transfer of 1,100 acres of open space overlooking Santa Rosa on Taylor Mountain to the Regional Parks Department last week. The public grand opening is scheduled for Feb. 23.
2777 Fourth Street, Santa Rosa www.flamingoresort.com 707.545.8530 info: Izzy 530.340.0517 Doors open Fri, Feb 22 Noon Sat/Sun Feb 23–24 11am $20 day pass or $35 weekend pass
This marks the culmination of almost two decades of planning and purchasing land by the Open Space District, which spent about $21 million on the project. Much of the land had been open to the public since 2010 through a permit program run by Santa Rosa nonprofit LandPaths. Trails, including a staging area off Petaluma Hill Road, are planned in the future thanks to a $750,000 state grant. The main access point in the meantime is still off Kawana Terrace in south Santa Rosa. Now if only the proposed clearcutto-vineyard site of Preservation Ranch could be turned into protected open space, we’d be all set. Hmm . . . —Nicolas Grizzle
The Bohemian started as The Paper in 1978.
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