Council: Is the Trailer Park Even for Sale?

If the city is going to swoop in to buy one of Santa Monica’s last remaining trailer parks—“saving” it from commercial development—it should first ask if the property is for sale, it decided Tuesday.

For weeks now, the has toyed with the possibility of buying , but “we have not approached the owners of the property to even inquire if the property is for sale,” said City Manager Rod Gould.

That will change in the coming weeks as city staffers continue negotiating with owners over their five-year-old application to shutter the 109-unit park at 2930 Colorado Avenue and redevelop it with condos, retail and commercial outlets.

The City Council voted 4-3 Tuesday to pose to the landowners the question of a sale, and at what cost.

"I don’t want to create a false hope that there is a solution that would ultimately save the park," said Councilwoman Tempore Gleam Davis. "I do believe that we owe the residents the notion that we’ve left no stones unturned."

Marc Luzzatto, of Village Trailer Park LLC, told Patch that he wasn’t yet ready to say whether he would be willing to entertain an offer.

In the summer of 2006, the company announced its intent to close the park, a community described by its residents, many of whom are elderly, as tight-knight, void of crime and altogether irreplaceable. Not wanting to lose their homes, they've fought the plans for development.

The city's purview to block the closure, however, is limited.

“The option that is clearly left to us, and is the option of last resort, is acquisition of the property,” said Councilman Kevin McKeown.

McKeown was asking the council to explore other ways to either protect the park or find other equitable affordable housing options—a request it denied. At least the residents know now that the council isn't going to ride up on a white horse, he said.

Staffers have roughly projected the cost between $8 and $25 million (a price dependent on whether the land is appraised as it exists today or its projected market value after development).

To come up with that kind of cash, the council would have to put on pause other projects, such as , or a combination of others that include the and the , Gould said.

“The cash involved is daunting,” he said.