Town of Yucca Valley creates overlay district to keep some mobile home parks as “seniors only”
It was a packed house and agenda at Tuesday night’s Yucca Valley Town Council meeting.
First up, long time Morongo Basin power couple Chris and Debbie Gubler were honored with a Yucca Valley Spirit Award. The couple were honored for their community spirit and dedication to enhancing the quality of life in Yucca Valley. You’ll recognize the name from Gubler Orchids and the Orchid Festival in Landers.
The couple have a long history of philanthropy in the Morongo Basin, and we’ll have more about that Yucca Valley Spirit Award and the Gublers in a separate story this week.
Yucca Valley Airport Update
Next, a report was presented from Tim Lewis who sits on the board of the Yucca Valley Airport. The airport recently received a $10,000 grant from Caltrans Aeronautics and Lewis says the Airport has submitted project proposals to the Caltrans State Airport Capital Improvement Plan (CIP).
Lewis says that the project’s proposals include hangars and fuel projects as well as improvements to the infield. Projects happening now at the airport are weed abatement and fixing cracks on the runway along with raising some of the security fencing from four to six feet. He also spoke about the United States Marines proposed expanded airspace but didn’t know how that would affect the Yucca Valley Airport if the proposed expansion went through.
Ryan Scott recognized
Town council then recognized Ryan Scott who’s been working with the town since 2019. Scott began as a lifeguard and then as an AV technician at the town’s municipal meetings. He’s moving on to pursue higher education full-time.
Senior Mobile Home Park Overlay District
It was then on to the Senior Mobile Home Park Overlay District. The proposed district was unanimously passed by the Yucca Valley Planning Commission at their July 8th meeting where they laid out a plan for Yucca Valley mobile home parks that currently have 80% of their units housing at least one resident that is 55 years or older.
The four mobile home parks that fit that criteria are:
The Country Club Mobile Estates at 54999 Martinez Trail
The Aztec Mobile Home Park at 7425 Church Street
The Apache Mobile Home Park at 56254 Twentynine Palms Highway
The Gates of Spain Mobile Estates at 7501 Palm Avenue
In total there are about 716 mobile home park spaces in Yucca Valley and approximately 76% of all those spaces are occupied by someone 55 years or older, according to Associate Town Planner Jared Jerome. You may recall the Gates of Spain coming up in late 2023 when it became the target of a year-long moratorium on changes to the park after new owners proposed opening it up to occupants of all ages.
That’s something that Gates of Spain resident Christine Moon remembers:
“This created deep concern and worry for our residents since October 2023. Seniors make up a vital part of this community and we rely on the stability of the senior 55+ mobile home parks to maintain our quality of life,” Moon told the Town Council during public comments.
John Serpinski is also a retired resident at the Gates of Spain Mobile Estates which he says provides a bit of sanctuary in his life.
“My wife and I have five kids and 11 grandchildren. We moved there for a reason. It’s very quiet, there’s no parties, there’s no playgrounds.”
A third Gates of Spain resident named Les Howitt says he’s seen the results of all-ages mobile home park before. He told the council “I’ve seen the tragedies of trying to inculcate children with older ones who can barely get down the street to keep themselves moving. It can create chaos so we appreciate if this overlay is passed.”
The Yucca Valley Town Council agreed and passed the Overlay District unanimously, with councilmember Merl Abel recusing himself from the vote.
Councilmembers then heard from property owner Charles Gabriels who applied to the Yucca Valley Planning Commission for a variance in the town’s development code asking for a change in the 50-foot setback requirement. That requirement is how far back from the street a single-family residence can be built. Gabriels asked the planning commission to allow the house he designed in 1989 to be built with a setback of 20 feet, which they denied.
Gabriels appealed to the Town Council, and Associate Town Planner Jared Jerome presented a comprehensive report with councilmembers showing other setbacks in the neighborhood. Gabriels was then given time to state his case which he says it’s all down to one thing… the topography of the lot. However, the Planning Commission’s denial of the variance was upheld by the Town Council. That means the 50-foot setback requirement remains in place.
We’ll have more on that story as well as other items that came out of Tuesday’s packed meeting later this week and weekend on your Z107.7 Local News.
