SAN JOSE (BCN) — The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved setting aside $6.5 million to a fund aimed to keep a Palo Alto mobile home park serving low-income residents from closing.
The money will be added to $8 million approved by the board in January to help save Buena Vista Mobile Home Park, which the Palo Alto City Council late last month approved to close after reviewing an application from
the mobile home park’s owner, Toufic Jisser, who plans to sell the 5-acre property on El Camino Real.
About 400 people, mostly Hispanic families, will be evicted from the 117-unit park unless Jisser sells the property to Caritas Corporation, an Irvine-based nonprofit that has partnered with Santa Clara County and is willing to operate Buena Vista, according to Supervisor Joe Simitian.
The money set aside Tuesday brings the county’s total contribution to $14.5 million, all coming from the county’s Stanford General Use Permit Affordable Housing Fund.
Earlier this year, the city of Palo Alto allocated $8 million to help prevent the park’s closure.
In an email addressed to the board on Monday, former Palo Alto City Councilwoman Emily Renzel said she supported the county’s $6.5 million addition for the park and will advocate that the city match the county’s
contribution.
The board’s unanimous approval to allocate more money for the park was met by claps and cheers from meeting attendees.
The affordable housing fund has a surplus of $16.8 million, with $1.7 million expected in the next three months from other projects that have been approved and are under construction, according to a memo dated Tuesday from Simitian and Supervisor Dave Cortese.
The fund is supported through developer fees and can only be spent on affordable housing, Simitian said.
Erika Escalante, president of the Buena Vista Residents’ Association, spoke to the board during its meeting Tuesday and thanked them for their past support of the mobile home park.
Since the Palo Alto City Council approved Jisser’s application to close the property, residents at the park have felt “discouraged and fearful of the future,” Escalante said.
She called on the board to approve the funds, which would “make all of the difference in the hundreds of people’s lives, perhaps for generations to come.”
“This a rare and precious opportunity to use the affordable housing funds not only to create affordable housing but make sure that over 400 Santa Clara County residents are not displaced from their homes,” said
Melissa Morris, a senior attorney from Law Foundation of Silicon Valley, which is representing the mobile home park residents.