By AMY KAUFMAN Special to the Daily Press
CITY HALL — City Council members are expected to spend more than $238,000 tonight on renovations to bolster a number of homes in the city and the quality of the roads that lead there.
Home should get a little bit sweeter for residents of the Mountain View Mobilehome Park, 1930 Stewart Street, if officials agree to foot the $121,000 bill for improvements on park grounds.
Built in the early 1950s, the park occupies five acres of land and has 105 rent-controlled spaces, but some of the park’s facilities are in disrepair.
An 1,130-square foot community building on the property contains bathrooms, laundry facilities, a resident manager’s office and a small adjacent pool. Dry rot and termites were discovered in February 2006 and further investigation showed water leaks under the foundation which had eroded the concrete footings and slab. Additionally, the bearing wall between the laundry room and bathrooms was unsound upon discovery. The bathrooms have since been closed.
The new building plans outlined in a city staff report include “new sewer and water lines, new concrete slab, new framing of structural members and bearing walls, new electrical, new drywall and flooring, and new bathrooms that will meet Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements.” Infrastructure upgrades would include “replacement of existing electrical systems; installation of natural gas lines; replacement of water and sewer lines; installation of new underground lines for cable, television and telephone; installation of on site fire hydrants; and regarding and repairing of interior roadways with rolled curbs.”
City property since December of 2000,Santa Monica legally settled to preserve the property at Mountain View for affordable housing.
Under the city’s ownership, many new features have been implemented at the park, including the establishment of emergency vehicle access and adequate road widths for the vehicles, installation of a fire hydrant adjacent to the property, installation of bollards for protection of residents’ propane tanks, removal of city-owned substandard units and repairs to other units, and mitigation of overcrowded mobile homes by relocating families within the park, a city staff report said.
Infrastructure upgrades, establishing code compliant lot lines and new mobile home installation, along with the aforemen-tioned repairs, are proposed to cost $121,134 and begin in early 2007.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 24, 2006. Read the original PDF.