Steep rent hikes at a 200-home American Canyon mobile home park, opposed by residents of the park who have called on the city for aid, are now on pause while a mediation process moves forward.

That mediation is part of the city’s mobile home rent-stabilization ordinance, adopted by the City Council in 2011. The process was triggered by a petition signed by over 51% of Olympia Mobilodge Of Napa households opposing the rent increase, according to a city staff report.

The city ordinance limits annual rent increases to 100% of the local consumer price index, up to a maximum of 6%, with at least 90 days notice to the city and residents.

But the mobile home park owner, Stockton-based Napa OML MHP 101 LLC, in May informed residents and the city that it sought to increase the rent by 20% to 40% beginning on Sept. 1. That’s hundreds of dollars extra monthly for the households that pay on average $720 per month in space rent, according to documents park ownership submitted to the city.

Napa OML MHP, which recently took majority ownership of the American Canyon park, is run by the Ubaldi Living Trust. The trust already is involved in disputes in Petaluma and Windsor over rent increases at parks it operates.

Claudia Sanches, who lives in the park and is a representative for its residents, said at the council meeting Tuesday that she and her brother moved to the park in April, so the rent increase came as a shock.

Sanches said over half of the people who live in the park are on fixed incomes, so the rent increase is very frustrating for them and could lead to displacing residents. She thanked city officials for facilitating the mediation.

“I know as a community we want to come to an agreement, we want to live peaceful in a place we want to call home,” Sanches said. “For us just moving in, I hope this is our home for many more years, and maybe my children or my brother’s children get to grow up here in American Canyon.”

As reasons for the increase, compared to a 2010 base year, park ownership cited increases in property taxes, maintenance costs, insurance premiums and management fees for Stockton-based property manager Harmony Communities, according to the owner documents submitted to the city.

The Ubaldi family and Harmony Communities, which manages over 30 parks in California and Oregon, have repeatedly faced off with residents for bringing substantial rent increases to mobile home parks, including in Sonoma County.

Windsor, for example, is currently under temporary protections established after residents called the city to step in to prevent the closure of four mobile home parks while city officials study updates to the city’s 30-year-old mobile home ordinance. That urgency ordinance was approved after owners of the Evergreen Mobile Estates — Nick Ubaldi and his family — told residents they were considering closing the park after a proposed 125% rent increase went to arbitration.

Local lawmakers in recent years have worked to bolster protections for mobile home residents, while at the same time many owners of those parks have sought to cash in through rent hikes or redeveloping the parks into permanent housing.

Regardless of the reasons for the rent increase at the American Canyon park, it went well beyond the June consumer price index of 3.8%, enabling residents to submit the petition for mediation, according to a staff report.

American Canyon Community development director Brent Cooper said the city is obligated by the ordinance to hire a mediator and convene a mediation panel — consisting of a qualified mediator, a mobile home park owner from another park and a mobile home resident from another park — to start up the process to talk about the rent increases.

To fund the process, the American Canyon council on Tuesday approved an $80,000 boost to the city’s budget for mediation services — increasing the fund to $108,600 in total.

Cooper said the city doesn’t know how long the mediation process will last. But if it doesn’t resolve the dispute between residents and the park ownership, either party can request arbitration — a process that would also involve freezing the proposed rent increase, at least until, and unless, an arbitrator approves it.

“The objective here is to make sure that it doesn’t move to arbitration, where the arbitrator decides on behalf of the parties,” Cooper said.

Councilmember Mark Joseph said at the meeting he didn’t think American Canyon has had a mobile home mediation process happen since the ordinance was put into effect, so moving into that was new for everybody.

“I’m glad this is still moving forward,” Joseph said. “It’s unfortunate that the new owners have a different view of what’s reasonable, but that’s where we have mediation.”

You can reach Staff Writer Edward Booth at 707-521-5281 or edward.booth@pressdemocrat.com.