Many public speakers who appealed to the Santa Maria Planning Commission to green-light new protections for senior mobile home parks identified themselves as tenants of the facilities that would be impacted. But jurisdictional lines didn’t stop one Orcutt resident from voicing her support for the zoning overlay, during the commission’s first meeting of July. “I […]
senior housing
Board of Supervisors sides with arbitrator in Del Cielo rent dispute
While alleging that a third-party mediator abused his authority, a local mobile home park owner appealed to the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors to overturn the ruling in an arbitration case. Following an eight-hour, in-person hearing in early 2026 and opportunities for written rebuttal, arbitrator John Derrick deemed $24 as an appropriate rent increase […]
Dollars dispute: Del Cielo Mobile Estates residents fight back against a rent increase tied to lawsuit expenses
Two attorneys. Seven witnesses. Eight hours of cross examination. Those with stakes in a recent arbitration hearing’s outcome will probably not hear Santa Barbara County’s verdict on a rent dispute between an Orcutt mobile home park’s ownership and residents until April. One consolation for attendees of the Jan. 21 proceeding was the arbitrator’s closing commentary, […]

