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Cindy Tzafopoulos

From: Anita Peters <anitamons@gmail.com>Sent: Monday, July 23, 2018 9:09 AMTo: Cindy TzafopoulosSubject: NEW BUSINESS: Rent Control for Vineyard Valley Mobile Home Park.

 >>>> Dear St.Helena City Council Members,  >>>>  >>>> Vineyard Valley has been my residence for over two years.  The grounds, amenities, security, improvements and maintenance are excellent.   >>>>  >>>> A resident of one of the Calistoga mobile home  parks and an employee of one in Windsor told me that rent control has caused a decline in their services.  Enforcement of rules and regulations in these two mobile home parks has also become lax as a result of not having the money to hire managers.  >>>>  >>>> A long term lease is favorable to me.  I am worried that rent control may create a myriad of state regulations that will result in the deterioration of all the services I appreciate at Vineyard Valley Mobile Home Park. >>>  >>> Vineyard Valley is a community and all residents must have a voice before the city government  decides to impose an ordinance of any type.     >>>>  >>>> Sincerely,  >>>>  >>>> Anita M. Peters >>>> 8 Los Robles Court >>>> St. Helena, Ca.  94574 >>>>  >>>>  >>>>  >>>>  >>>>  

Nora O’Neill 37 Laguna Seca Court St. Helena, CA 94574

July 31, 2018 The City Council City of St. Helena 1480 Main Street St. Helena, CA 94547 Members of the City Council: I am writing to you in connection with your consideration of rent control for Vineyard Valley. World-renowned economist Thomas Sowell, PhD, Economics, Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institute at

Stanford University, has said, “The biggest economic fallacy of housing is that ‘affordable housing’ requires government intervention.” Below is a synopsis of Dr. Sowell’s comments on rent control, taken from an interview he did on February 10, 2014, in connection with his book, ECONOMIC FACTS AND FALLACIES:

Before rent control was enacted, there were more people living in housing and government housing projects in San Francisco and New York City than there are now. San Francisco and New York City have had rent control for many, many years. Today, these 2 cities have the highest rent prices in the United States.

With rent control, people either reduce the number of houses they build, or they stop building houses altogether because, with rent control, there is no longer an incentive to invest in housing; and, they put their money elsewhere, such as in stocks and bonds.

Rent control leaves political authorities with the predicament of having no new houses being built while, at the same time, the old houses are wearing out, usually wearing out faster under rent control because the landlords don’t have the incentive to keep up the properties as much.

So, the politicians say, we are trying to protect the poor, so we won’t regulate luxury housing. Of course, affordable housing and luxury housing both use the same labor and materials. Consequently, in this situation, all the labor and materials that would have gone to ordinary housing goes to luxury housing because that is where the money can be made, hence, no new ordinary housing is being built.

Before government intervention became pervasive in the housing markets, we find people were paying a smaller percentage of housing at the beginning of the 20th Century than at the end of the 20th Century.

1901 -- housing was 23% of the average American family’s spending

2003 -- housing was 33% of a far larger amount of the average American family’s spending

The City Council of St. Helena, CA July 31, 2018

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What happens is that the politicians end up restricting the amount of housing that can be built; and, the basic law of supply and demand dictates that if you restrict the supply while the demand is growing, the prices will go through the roof.

WHO BENEFITS FROM THE RENT CONTROL ARRANGEMENT?

The politicians gain most of all – they get the reputation of being for the poor and downtrodden, they are setting aside “affordable housing” units, they are preventing some evil landlord from raising the rent through rent control, and they are able to keep the public paranoid that, if they take away the rent control, there will be sky-high pricing. So, the politicians gain from this.

Both the landlords and the tenants lose. They lose in different ways and to different extents. Tenants lose because they cannot find a place to live; landlords lose because they do not make the profit they would have made otherwise. In addition, the builders lose because there is no demand for building condos and apartments if no one can make a profit from it.

Where builders are allowed to construct homes and apartments without severe government restrictions, even growing populations and rising incomes do not cause housing prices to shoot up because the supply of newly constructed housing keeps up with the growing demand. Example: Contrast Houston vs. San Francisco:

In 2014 it was estimated by a real estate company that the average house in Houston cost $155,000, while the average house price in San Francisco was $1.5 million. Houston does not have zoning laws; however, in California, there are many, many laws and regulations, planning commission reviews, hearings, expensive fees every step of the way, etc., etc.

Let’s review why this housing shortage exists in St. Helena. A lot of the problem stems from the Ag Preserve back in the 1980's, where one of the "selling points" of the Ag Preserve to the voters at the time was to "keep Napa Valley from being filled with condos and apartments, which would make Hwy 29 a parking lot!" Consequently, with the Ag Preserve in place, the development of Napa Valley was practically all focused on vineyards and wineries, with hardly any thought given to the future need for housing. We have ended up with tons of vineyards and wineries, yet all of their employees (plus the teachers, restaurant workers, general business employees, and city employees) need housing; but, there is no housing because of the Ag Preserve’s resultant limit on condos and apartments. Instead, everyone put in vineyards and wineries, and the builders were left with only building wineries and luxury homes for the rich. Worst of all, not only is Hwy 29 now a parking lot for traffic, but also, the Silverado Trail is now a parking lot because of the employees who have to commute to their jobs due to the lack of housing. Adding rent control to this mix only makes the housing problem worse – it does not fix the cause of the problem, but only adds a Band-Aid. Thus, no end is in sight for the lack of housing, which will go on, and on, and on.

The City Council of St. Helena, CA July 31, 2018

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As I advised you at the July 24, 2018, City Council Meeting, Vineyard Valley is an idyllic setting in this beautiful little town, and the owners are exceptionally good landlords, who work hard to keep the idyllic nature of The Park intact, making residents feel at home and keeping the cost of living there affordable. We enjoy a beautiful swimming pool, hot tub, club house, putting green, walking trails, game rooms, exercise gym, workshop, library, and Park social events, not to mention the beautiful overall garden environment. I have lived in Vineyard Valley for 7 years and have never had a problem. Whenever I have had a question about something, the staff has responded promptly and efficiently to answer it. At the emergency meeting held at Vineyard Valley to inform us on this subject, it appeared that 90-95% of the homeowners had been blindsided by this whole matter. It seems the rent-control concept came about in response to a small few and not the vast majority of the residents. The residents of Vineyard Valley are in no need of Government intervention and oversight. The added costs brought on by increased staff time required to handle the regulatory oversight of this rent-control concept would be an unnecessary burden to the City of St. Helena and to the owners of Vineyard Valley and would have a negative effect on our home values and our living environment. None of this is needed, and none of it should be pursued. Does the City of St. Helena want to lead the whole Napa Valley down the cumbersome, highly regulated, and costly road that rent control would lead to? Rent control is not a good option for St. Helena nor for the Napa Valley. The housing problem needs to be met head on. I think it would be a good thing for you to investigate encouraging landowners, through tax incentives, etc., to build some apartment buildings on some of their property. Also, I think the wineries should work together to build housing – they have the land, and they are the major cause of this housing shortage. Perhaps they could take half of their proceeds from their wine auction every year and build housing to alleviate the problem they are responsible for creating. If the wineries can afford to pay $90,000 every year to completely rebuild the 9th hole at Meadowood, after it is damaged from the Wine Auction, they can certainly afford to build housing throughout this Valley. They have a big responsibility for this housing shortage in Napa Valley, and they should be willing to help solve the problem. Thank you,

Nora O’Neill

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Cindy Tzafopoulos

From: lupejazz <lupejazz@sbcglobal.net>Sent: Tuesday, July 24, 2018 4:46 PMTo: Cindy TzafopoulosSubject: Rent Stabilization aka Rent Control

Dear Miss. Tzafopoulos, RE: RENT STABILIZATION AKA RENT CONTROL Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Lupe Bengel. I, along with my husband David Bengel, are residents of beautiful, Vineyard Valley (VV) here in lovely Saint Helena, since approximately, January 2006. And, I would like to share with you and City Council of St. Helena the following. Before we purchased our home we read, and then had an in person meeting with Vineyard Valley (VV) mgmt., making sure we understood our lease/rent agreement. We were owners of our house BUT, not the land it sits on. Our yearly basic base Space rent (MINUS: water, sewer surcharge and garbage) is calculated at 3% per a formula devised to be fair by Owners. And, we agreed, signed and understood what this land lease for our house with VV entailed. So far, the land rent formula is working. And, so far, we are able to financially afford this formula. Also, one can see by the beautification projects of the past, present and current maintenance of VV grounds and amenities, that our current owners and management are fair and diligently work at making and keeping VV a desirable and unique mobile home park. The best in the West! If you haven't yet had the opportunity to visit our beautiful, peaceful and welcoming Vineyard Valley Mobile Home Park, please do so. Therefore, in regards to the subject of "Rent Stabilization aka Rent Control" being proposed before the City Council of Saint Helena at tonight's Council meeting, my husband and I, are expressing this proposal is NOT FAVORABLE in our humble opinion. Respectfully, Lupe and David Bengel 11 Laguna Seca Court Saint Helena, CA 707-312-9062 Sent via my Samsung Galaxy, an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone

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Cindy Tzafopoulos

From: Mariam Hansen <wartuhi@comcast.net>Sent: Monday, July 23, 2018 12:57 PMTo: Cindy TzafopoulosSubject: July 24 10.1

Dear City Council,  It came as a great shock to most Vineyard Valley residents to learn that a rent control ordinance was to be considered on July 24. Friday 13th July lived up to its name. I'm told that a small group of VV  residents have been working on it with the city and that it came about because Erika Sklar from Our Town St. Helena said it should.  According to some, residents of Vineyard Valley are clamoring for rent control. This is probably not the impression Councilwoman Koberstein got when she attended a community meeting at Vineyard Valley on July 18. Almost everyone is very happy with the way Vineyard Valley LLC has treated them. When admonished for not informing the public that a rent control ordinance was being written, Councilwoman Koberstein stated it was the fault of Vineyard Valley residents for not knowing what the city's goals are!! Let the residents have a voice—put it to vote!!  Everyone who moves into Vineyard Valley (VV) signs a lease of at least 7  years. State law says rent control does not apply to mobile home park lots covered by an agreement longer than 12 months. At the end of each lease term the VV office automatically sends out a new lease to be signed. Tenants have a choice to sign or not. Out of about 250 lots, only 19 do not have a lease.  Leaseholders know with certainty their rent will go up 3% a year.  Just look at the new bureaucracy the city must pay for:  ‐New rent review officer must be appointed. ‐City must register each lot and collect a regulatory fee ‐set anniversary date for all rent increases  ‐set regulatory fee  ‐choose Consumer Price Index date  ‐verify CPA documentation submitted by landlord  ‐Accept petitions from tenants objecting to rent increase  ‐Organize a hearing for petitioners ‐Collect petitioners and landlord processing fees  ‐Assign a hearing officer to a petition  ‐Receive notice from landlord as to which lots are subject to rent increase  ‐‐Review petitions and verify requirements are met ‐Assign mediator and set meeting with tenant and landlord  And more  Keeping St. Helena affordable is certainly a lofty goal, but economic forces beyond the control of the city government are jacking up the cost of living in St. Helena. Every time the Chamber of Commerce sends out an email they advertise St. Helena lifestyle. Visitors become buyers and bid up the cost of even the most modest house. The city itself is responsible for the panic that ensued in VV over the astronomical water and sewer rate increase last year and more increases are yet to come. City is responsible for requirements that jack up the cost of building anything in town. City rules allow multiple middle class 

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houses to be demolished every week, to be replaced by luxury homes. Example: 1814 Spring, 1504 Stockton, etc. Just walk from Spring down Allyn.  May long time residents are fed up with the growth in tourism, tech millionaires, traffic, living costs. They are tired of the deserted neighborhoods on week days and influx of partiers on the weekend. Yet they are happy to sell their property for an astronomical sum and move out of state. Congressman Mike Thompson's cousin is the latest one to announce his departure.  Rent control in Vineyard Valley will not put a dent in any of this.  

  

Best wishes, Mariam Hansen