SAN MARCOS — The San Marcos City Council voted Tuesday night to replace a temporary urgency ordinance adopted in 2024 with a permanent zoning change intended to protect senior mobile home parks.
The zoning overlay — now outlined in Section 20.270 of the city’s Municipal Code — covers seven mobile home parks in the city that are designated as senior housing and are not owned by residents.
San Marcos has 16 mobile home parks, according to a staff report.
The affected sites are El Dorado, Lakeview Estates, Palomar Estates East, Palomar Estates West, Rancho Vallecitos, San Marcos Mobile Estates and Lakeview Estates.
Under the new zoning, the parks must ensure that at least 80% of their spaces include at least one resident age 55 or older.
The staff report explaining the proposed ordinance noted that the average rent for a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment in San Marcos is just under $3,000 a month. In addition, the median annual income for seniors in San Marcos is about $55,000, compared with a citywide median of roughly $81,000.
While the staff report cited ongoing litigation elsewhere in California over local governments’ ability to protect senior housing designations in mobile home parks, it also noted that the state Legislature recently passed Senate Bill 2596.
If signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom — or allowed to take effect without his signature — SB 2596 would permit cities to conduct senior residency surveys if mobile home park operators refuse to do so. The bill would close a loophole used by some park owners who decline to ensure the 80% senior residency threshold is met and then argue that their properties can no longer be considered designated senior housing under federal and state law.
“This is an excellent adjustment to our ordinance,” Councilmember Ed Musgrove said.
Deputy Mayor Mike Sannella added, “We’ve been working on this for so long — all the moratoriums, the workshops, the one-on-one meetings. Tonight is a really good night for our seniors and our community.”
The measure passed unanimously.
In other business at Tuesday evening’s council meeting:
- The council discussed the future of the San Marcos Holiday Parade. Earlier this year, the parade’s longtime organizer, the Kiwanis Club of Lake San Marcos, informed city staff that the club could no longer bear the parade’s rising costs and would have to bow out. The Coast News previously reported on the parade’s uncertain future.
Council members Musgrove and Danielle LeBlang requested that the matter be placed on the agenda for discussion.
“(The parade) doesn’t necessarily fall on us … but there is a community interest in it,” said Musgrove, who introduced the item on Tuesday.
LeBlang said, “The estimate for the city to put on the parade for this year is $50,000 to $70,000. That’s not a small chunk of change. The money has to come from somewhere. There’s also staff time that’s not even factored into that.”
Responding to a question from LeBlang, staff presented a slideshow indicating that other nearby cities rely on nonprofit community groups to organize and stage their parades, except Encinitas, where the city runs the parade with help from community groups.
The city approached other community groups after the Kiwanis notified officials that it could no longer run the parade. Several groups were willing to assist, but none wanted to replace the Kiwanis as the primary organizer.
LeBlang noted that the first week of December, when the parade has traditionally been held to avoid conflicts with other nearby parades, is a busy time for city staff because of the Santa Claus breakfast, the City Hall tree-lighting ceremony and the holiday village.
City Manager Michelle Bender said she did not believe existing staff could successfully manage all of those events. Bender also noted that no money is currently budgeted for a parade this year and that funding would have to be diverted from another area, such as road maintenance or public safety.
During public discussion, Arcela Nuñez, co-director of the community health and education organization Universidad Popular, told the council that the parade is an important part of the Richmar community.
“Very few city events take place in the geography where this parade happens,” Nuñez said. “The parade should be an economic development opportunity.”
Responding to her comments, Sannella said, “What is evident is that we have to have a lot more conversation and study about this. I don’t know if we need to have three or four end of year holiday events.”
Sannella added that he would like staff to analyze which neighborhoods host the city’s various sponsored events, saying that every City Council district should host its fair share of taxpayer-supported events.
The council directed staff to return with additional information at a future meeting. Council members also suggested moving the city’s annual planning meeting to early February or late January to provide enough time to plan a 2027 holiday parade if the next City Council chooses to proceed after the November election.
- With Mayor Rebecca Jones and Musgrove recusing themselves after receiving campaign contributions from the developer, the council denied an appeal involving the Lanikai Senior Residential Development. The proposed 115-unit apartment building, with an anticipated 230 residents, would be located at the northwest corner of Mission Road and Woodward Street. City staff previously rejected a mitigation report as incomplete, which the developer disputed. After hearing testimony from the developer’s attorney and city staff, the council voted 3-0 to uphold the staff decision.
- In a closed-session meeting before the regular meeting, the council met with staff and attorneys to discuss ongoing and anticipated litigation and negotiations over the possible acquisition of property. No reportable action was taken.
