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THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JUNE 18, 2019
Mobile home legislation faces uphill battle
One of many
affordable options
By MARK MILLER
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — Mobile homes
weren’t built to last forever.
But state legislators like Rep.
Pam Marsh don’t want them
to just go away.
If you’re a mobile home
owner who wants to replace
your aging residence, you
could apply for a state loan of
up to $35,000 to help defray
the cost as part of a program
Marsh is proposing.
Marsh,
D-Ashland,
describes
manufactured
homes as “naturally occur-
ring affordable housing.” She
believes they are an essential
piece of addressing Oregon’s
affordable housing shortage.
“We’ve got to really have
this multi pronged approach,”
Marsh said. “We are a state
missing about 150,000 hous-
ing units, so as we go about
this, we have to be thoughtful
both in increasing the supply
and stabilizing conditions for
current tenants and investing
in what we’ve got.”
As of 2017, about 11%
of Oregon residences were
manufactured homes, accord-
ing to the state Department of
Housing and Community Ser-
vices. The typical owner of a
manufactured home makes
signifi cantly less money than
homeowners in general, and
manufactured homes gener-
ally sell for far less than sin-
gle-family houses.
However, mobile homes
come with their own issues.
Most are not built to last as
long as a stick-built house or
apartment building, and older
too little for the other. “Those
things kind of naturally fi t
together,” Marsh said.
Floating homes
Perhaps the biggest chal-
lenge facing mobile home res-
idents in Oregon, however, is
that mobile home parks have
closed at a rate that has Marsh
and other housing advocates
alarmed. According to state
data, more than 100 parks
closed between 2001 and
2015, taking 4,000 mobile
home spaces with them.
Portland city commission-
ers changed land use rules
last year to protect 56 man-
ufactured housing commu-
nities from being redevel-
oped, amid a hot market for
real estate in the region. Sim-
ilar fi ghts over development
have played out in other cit-
ies, as well.
Marsh is proposing a $9.5
million lifeline for mobile
home parks at risk of closing,
making that money avail-
able in loans for nonprof-
its and local governments
interested in buying them up
to keep them open. “We’re
demonstrating that we know
we need to invest in housing
that’s out there on the ground
right now,” Marsh said.
HB 2896 carries a $20.5
million price tag, most of
which would pay for loans. It
still needs the approval of the
state budget-writing commit-
tee before it goes before the
House and Senate for a vote.
The bill also includes $3
million to help develop a
mobile home park in Spring-
fi eld, a cause that was taken
up by Springfi eld Democrats
Sen. Lee Beyer and Rep.
John Lively earlier this year.
Another proposal that is
‘WE’VE GOT TO REALLY HAVE
THIS MULTI PRONGED APPROACH.
WE ARE A STATE MISSING ABOUT
150,000 HOUSING UNITS.’
Rep. Pam Marsh, D-Ashland
mobile homes weren’t built
to modern standards for ener-
gy-effi ciency or safety.
CASA of Oregon, a Sher-
wood community develop-
ment nonprofi t that supports
Marsh’s legislation, told law-
makers it can cost as much
as $20,000 just to decom-
mission and dispose of an
old mobile home, especially
if it contains asbestos. For
homeowners on low or fi xed
incomes, that cost can be pro-
hibitive, leaving them with
little choice but to stay in a
home that has reached the
end of its lifespan.
Originally, Marsh pro-
posed separate loan pro-
grams: one to assist people
getting rid of an old mobile
home, and another to help
them pay for a new, more
environmentally
friendly
mobile home. In the lat-
est version of her proposal,
House Bill 2896, the two are
condensed into a single fund.
She’s trying to meet mobile
home residents’ needs, she
explained, so she doesn’t
want to provide too much
money for one program and
moving forward in the Leg-
islature, Senate Bill 586,
changes the law to treat res-
idential marinas similarly to
mobile home parks, including
more protection for tenants.
Oregon has about 1,500
registered fl oating homes,
many of them in rented
slips similar to mobile home
spaces. Like mobile homes,
fl oating homes are often a
more affordable alternative to
houses in riverside communi-
ties. Also like mobile homes,
fl oating homes are endan-
gered by redevelopment.
SB 586, which was
introduced by Sen. Floyd
Prozanski, D-Eugene, at the
request of a constituent, has
broad backing from both
marina landlords and ten-
ants. Angela Garvin, a marina
tenants’ rights advocate who
lives in Portland, testifi ed
that the bill “will save good,
invested community mem-
bers from losing their homes
and life savings for no good
reason.”
Affordability questions
While they could make
Mobile homes are an aff ordable housing option.
a big difference for mobile
home park and marina ten-
ants, Marsh and Prozans-
ki’s housing proposals hav-
en’t gotten the same amount
of publicity as a suite of
bills introduced by House
Speaker Tina Kotek earlier
this session.
Kotek said she’s continu-
ing to push for that legislation
to pass this month, includ-
ing House Bill 2001, which
would effectively end what
some housing advocates call
“exclusionary zoning” in cit-
ies with more than 10,000
residents.
Under HB 2001, such cit-
ies would have to allow a
duplex wherever it would
permit a single-family house.
Cities with populations of
more than 25,000 would
have to allow triplexes, quad-
plexes, townhouses and cot-
tage clusters in residential
neighborhoods, as well.
The goal, supporters say,
is to increase the availability
of affordable and “missing
middle” housing in Oregon.
“Well over half of our residen-
tial land is zoned for detached
single-family housing,” said
Mary Kyle McCurdy, dep-
uty director of 1 000 Friends
of Oregon. That has created
what McCurdy calls a “struc-
tural mismatch” between the
amount of land available for
housing and the number of
homes that are actually avail-
able, she said.
Something like a duplex,
McCurdy added, is “is eas-
ily the same size as … a sin-
gle-family detached home,
but it allows two families to
live in it,” and at a lower cost
per household.
Not everyone is on board,
including some of Kotek’s
fellow Democrats. “I know
that there’s a lack of inven-
tory,” said Sen. James Man-
ning Jr., D-Eugene . “I’m not
thoroughly convinced that,
when we talk about afford-
ability, whether or not this
will trickle down to the peo-
ple that actually need it.”
Another proposal from
Kotek, House Bill 2003,
would require more extensive
planning by local govern-
ments on housing. It would
also open the door for hous-
WELDING
If it’s built with metal,
a welder was involved
ing to be built on public land,
as long as it’s in a residential
area and isn’t designated as a
park or open space. It has the
backing of 1 000 Friends of
Oregon as well.
Like Marsh’s manufac-
tured housing bill, HB 2001
and HB 2003 are awaiting
budget-writers’ go-ahead.
Along with Prozanski’s
marina legislation, two more
of Kotek’s bills passed out
of the budget committee Fri-
day . House Bill 2002 sets up
a fund to preserve afford-
able housing and adds new
requirements before publicly
supported housing can be con-
verted to market-rate hous-
ing. House Bill 2006 provides
grants to improve access to
housing for low-income indi-
viduals and survivors of sex-
ual assault and domestic vio-
lence. They go to the House
fl oor for consideration.
The Oregon Capital
Bureau is a collaboration
between EO Media Group,
Pamplin Media Group and
Salem Reporter.
Alvin and Loretta (Larson) Grothe
will celebrate their 50th
wedding anniversary with
an open house in their honor
on Saturday June 22, 2019
at Bethany Lutheran church,
451-34th St., Astoria, from
1-4pm.
They were united in
marriage on June 21, 1969
at Bethel Covenant church
outside of Roseau, MN, with
Rev. Kronberg officiating.
The couple moved to
Astoria in 1975 where
Alvin served as Pastor of Bethany Lutheran church until his
retirement.
Their children are Terry (Jeff) Owenby, Gresham, OR;
James Grothe, Ogilvie, MN; Susan (Mike) Lynch, Medford,
OR; Kathy (Larry) Olson, Astoria, OR; Kelly (Lois) Grothe,
Astoria, OR; Joel Grothe, Tillamook, OR.
The couple have 15
grandchildren and 23
great-grandchildren.
Cards of
congratulations will
reach them at 2775
Steam Whistle Way
#205 Astoria, OR
97103
HOMESTAY LODGING
PERMIT APPLICATIONS
DUE JUNE 30, 2019
Beginning July 1, 2019 operating a
homestay lodging rental without a
permit or providing false information
on an application will result in a fine of
$1000 per-day. Astoria homeowners
with an existing business license and
transient lodging tax collection must
also submit a permit application.
Business licenses alone do not complete
the homestay lodging permit requirements.
Go to the Homestay Lodging Link
(http://astoria.or.us/HOMESTAY_LODGING.aspx)
on the City website for the homestay
lodging permit application packet. Visit
City Hall on Tues, Wed and Thurs from
1-4PM, call 503-338-5183 or email
comdevadmin@astoria.or.us with
questions or to submit your application.
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