Council set to discuss mobile home parks

City heads also slated to look at cash rewards for information for illegal fireworks at meeting

Finishing a sixmonth-long conversation, mobile home park politics are back on the city council agenda for Tuesday.

Council members are set to award a contract for an administrative hearing officer, which will not exceed $25,000 a year, to settle internal governing for the mobile home parks.

The decision to bring in an outside officer was made after months of input by both park owners and residents. Both parties feared changes to the municipal code could shift to the other side’s favor.

Presently, appeals made by mobile home park residents concerning rent increases are brought to a fivemember panel, comprised of two residents, two park owners and an impartial fifth member.

To eliminate any bias, the panel will be replaced with a contracted hearing officer.

“The council did a good job of hearing concerns on both sides and trying to meet an equitable solution,” Mayor Cameron Smyth said.

The mobile home park code has been in play since 1990 and the most recent updates have been on various council and special meeting agendas since April.

Though it has taken months to settle, the mayor said the municipal code can still be reviewed and amended as necessary.

After numerous conversations about illegal fireworks surrounding July 4, council members spoke of the need to discourage the use of fireworks of any kind and implement repercussions for those who break the law.

On Independence Day, the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Department responded to 116 calls for fireworks.

“After this year, it was clear we had to look at all options to get the illegal fireworks under control,” Smyth said.

The council will approve a $500 reward in exchange for information leading to the citation of someone using illegal fireworks.

All fireworks are against the law in Santa Clarita and Los Angeles County, even those labeled “safe and sane.”

The mayor hopes the incentive will encourage witnesses to identify and report fireworks to sheriff’s deputies when they see them.

Also, an additional $500,000 will be approved to be donated to constructing the new Santa Clarita Valley Senior Center.

The city has already contributed $3 million to the center, but received a letter from the Santa Clarita Valley Committee on Aging requesting more funds to bridge a gap in funding to complete the project.

“To finally get one built that will fit the needs of our growing senior population in the center of town, it’s something that is really a part of a community and is what local government should be doing,” Smyth said.

This new center is slated to be built on Golden Valley Road and replace the one on Market Street.

Council will also award the design contract for the new sheriff’s station for $3,149,000. The new building on Golden Valley Road will replace the current one on Magic Mountain Parkway that was built in the 1970s.

This fiscal year has not presented many new projects, but the continuation of past ones, according to Smyth.

“You’re not going to see a lot of capital projects, but you’ll see a lot of progress,” he said. “It’s not glamorous, but it’s necessary.”