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The Olympia City Council is exploring ways to preserve manufactured home communities by addressing land use concerns not covered by the state of Washington's rent stabilization law.
At a study session held on Tuesday, July 29, Olympia Housing Program Senior Specialist Christa Lenssen discussed the state's newly enacted House Bill 1217, which introduces measures for rent stability and tenant rights, as well as protections for manufactured home communities.
Under the legislation, landlords are restricted from increasing rent by more than 5% annually and are prohibited from raising rents during the first 12 months of tenancy.
While the...
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While the bill focuses on rent-related protections, it does not address land use concerns or prevent the redevelopment of manufactured home parks. But the underlying issue is that property owners can redevelop their land according to zoning allowances, potentially replacing manufactured home communities with apartments, townhouses or commercial developments.
Well, they finally figured it out. When you enact rent control, mobile home park owners simply tear their parks down and build back better uses. Maybe they should have thought of that first?

