New Protections for 'Vehicular Residential Facilities' Approved in Oakland

Annie Sciacca reports for The Mercury News on the Oakland (California) City Council's adoption this week of a "package of ordinances that allow RVs, mobile homes, manufactured homes and tiny houses to occupy residential properties throughout the city."

The change effects a change to the city's zoning and building codes that required all residential units to be built on a permanent foundation, according to Sciacca. The code changes now allow "vehicular residential facilities" and expands rent control to RV and mobile home units in the city.

Sciacca provides more detail on the ordinance, relaying information included in a city memo:

The amendments to city codes will allow people to legally park their RVs and mobile homes on private properties in all residential areas if they comply with tenancy and habitability codes, including a requirement that the units be “structurally sound, protect occupants against the weather, include permanent provisions for living and sleeping, include heating and lighting, and provide occupants with 24-hour on-site access to potable water, a kitchen, and clean, lighted, code-compliant toilet, bathing facilities, and lavatory sink under the occupants’ control,” according to a city memo.

A press release published by Mayor Libby Schaaf and Council President Pro Tem Shang Thao on November 2 refers to the package as the Construction Innovation ordinance. The press release claims the CIO was necessary in light of housing construction costs more than doubling in the last decade in the city.

"Today’s approval embraces cost-saving innovative construction practices, updates outdated regulations and redefines what literally makes a 'home' which, ultimately, will bring down the cost of housing for our residents," the press release adds.

The source article, linked below, provides more detail on the CIO, in addition to soundbites from the politicians behind the CIO and describes state of the housing market in the city and region. Mobile home parks have proven a flashpoint for housing policy controversy in Oakland, as exemplified by an article picked up by Planetizen in April 2021.