Community Members To Rally To Save Buena Vista Mobile Home Park

PRESS RELEASE

PALO ALTO – Palo Alto community members and residents of the Buena Vista Mobile Home Park will join County Supervisor Joe Simitian at a rally at Palo Alto City Hall Plaza on Monday, March 9th at 5:30 pm, to call for the preservation of the Park as a home for the 400 current residents and a source of affordable housing.

Attendees will be thanking the City for setting aside $8 million to preserve the site for the residents and affordable housing, and will be encouraging the City Council to ratify this set-aside at the earliest appropriate opportunity. The $8 million set-aside announced by City Manager Jim Keene last month provides a match for the $8 million set-aside announced in January by the County of Santa Clara.

“The City has really stepped up with the recent announcement of an $8 million set-aside,” said Simitian. “I think it’s important for us to be there Monday to express our support and appreciation.”

Buena Vista Mobile Home Park, located on El Camino Real at Los Robles Avenue, is the last mobile home park in Palo Alto. It provides an affordable home to about 100 mostly low-income families, about 400 people in total. The owner is currently trying to sell the property for market-rate development, which would displace these 400 residents and permanently remove a rare source of affordable housing in an extremely expensive part of Santa Clara County.

“Early on, the conversation about Buena Vista was almost exclusively about compensation for tenants upon closure,” said Simitian. “I'm pleased that the conversation has changed, and now we are talking about how to keep the park open for the foreseeable future.”

WHAT:           Rally to Save Buena Vista

WHEN:           Monday, March 9th

                      5:30pm – Rally at City Hall Plaza

                      6:00pm – Supporters join public comment at City Council Meeting

WHO:             Community members, residents of the Buena Vista Mobile Home Park, and County Supervisor Joe Simitian   

WHERE:         Palo Alto City Hall Plaza

                       50 Hamilton Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94301

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