by Bill Crozier
My name is William ( Bill) Crozier and I live at 45 Marin Valley Drive in Marin Valley Mobile Country Club. I have been a resident of this park for 40 years. The following is what I know about the history of living here.
Park Development and Time Frame as I know it:
The Park was developed as a family park in 1969. Entrance was from the green transformer box including all streets to the Club House. The Park consisted of 170 homes. Marin Valley Drive ended at the Club House. This is what I call Phase I.
Four years later, in what I call Phase II, I moved into the park . This phase extended from the Club House to the end of Marin Valley Drive at the top of the hill. The original developer (Mr. Daugherty) was involved in this project. He sold the Park to Mr. Sade in 1987.
In 1997 Mr. Sade sold the Park to the N.F.A. (Novato Finance Authority) and to the residents. Later on title transferred to the City of Novato which holds title now . By this time, our Park became a Senior Park (55 and over) .
Comments on Phase I, II, and III as follows:
Phase I
All homes were purchased from the developer at the Club House. This is all I know. The owner at this time was Mr. Daugherty, a very nice person. In 1972 you did not have to purchase a home through the Club House.
Phase II : When I decided to move into the Park, the streets were not finished and I selected a lot from the blue prints. I moved my home to that lot in 1972. Space rent at that time for a 24’ x 64’ double wide was $190/month. That included all services except telephone. Gas, electric, water, garbage, etc. was included and paid at the Club House. At that time, all homes were classified as trailers. For a double-wide you paid to the D.M.V. (Department of Motor Vehicles) an annual fee for two license plates. Later H.U.D. (Housing & Urban Development) took over registration of the homes from the D.M.V. You were responsible for all landscaping on your lot and tree planting. There were very few trees on the property so rain water runoff was your problem. I had to install a 3’ block retaining wall plus 3 wood retainers on the hill above my house, as well as piped drains to the street. My neighbor and I agreed what our lot lines were. There never were any stakes in the ground at the back or front for lot size verification in the entire Park. I have never had any personal problems with neighbors or managers in my 40 years of living here .
Phase III : The owner, Mr. Sade, developed this phase. It consisted of streets: Sunrise, Clubview, Fallen Leaf, and Panorama. All homes below the Club House had a lot of initial drainage problems, and sewage tended to back up into them from the houses above. When there was a major electrical problem, the sewer booster pumps would not work. Two emergency diesel generators were finally installed to supply electricity to operate these pumps. This solved future problems. Mr. Sade owned the Park for 10 years. He installed gas and electric meters and charged for TV, garbage, etc. He also raised rents every year. When a home sold, he increased the rent substantially. He was very frugal when it came to maintaining anything.
After he sold the Park to the City of Novato, many serious upgrades needed to be done. The entire electrical wiring and transformers were replaced costing thousands of dollars. Many earth slide areas had to be fixed – again costing many dollars. Streets were resurfaced, pool and hot tub were refurbished, Club House and deck had dry rot and that had to be replaced as well. No manager stayed over one year, although some persons lasted only part of a year . The house above me, 99 Panorama, was the manager’s house.
Space Rental Information
Phase 1
I don’t have any information.
Phase II
I saw a master blueprint and selected space with the owner as the streets were not completed. All spaces had a base price on them and my space for a double wide 24’ x 64’ mobile home was $190 per month. The rest of the space depended on size of home, view, location, cul de sac, etc. A base price was set on each unit. Every year Mr. Sade increased rent for cost of living expenses allowed by the City Rental Agreement. Everyone in the Park got the same percentage increase. In addition, when a home was sold, he increased the rent 10% more for that unit. If the home was sold two or three times, he collected 10% more each time. For a home that was never sold (like mine) the rent is lower than one that had a 10% increase each time it was sold. Most of the homes in this Park have been sold at least once and there is a wide variation of rents for the same size of home and location.
Phase III
I don’t know what prices Mr. Sade put on the spaces in regards to base rent. I know he raised the rent an extra 10% each time a home was sold, which made the rent variable for homes of the same size and location.
Some of the Park Rules : The following rules were enforced by Mr. Sade’ s managers: no motorcycles or motor bikes; no signs, no fences and no outside real estate people , as sales went through the Club House with the Assistant Manager. Money was charged for pets and long-term guests. All of these rules were strictly enforced. The owner could make any rule he wanted to and change them. Tenants had no say. Unfortunately I do not have a copy of the ever-changing rules over the years . This all changed when the City of Novato took over. Now the residents can make the rules by majority vote.
Procedure for Residence Purchase: I will try to explain the procedure of the residence purchase with the City of Novato as I know it. Mr. Owen Haxton plus others were involved in purchasing the Park with the City of Novato. Mr. Sade decided to sell the Park in 1997 and he gave the residents first choice to purchase the Park. He also had someone interested in it. He wanted $17 million. I learned he bought the Park for $4 million. The Park residents could not come up with $17 million so the City of Novato got involved and financed the money. The Park residents hired an attorney, Mr. David Kenyon, and a Bond specialist, Mr. Phillip Hoon, to arrange the financing to purchase the Park. Many meetings and rejections by the City ensued, but we finally got approval which consisted of the following: a primary bond of 80% of cost and a subordinate bond with the City for the balance to close the deal. In order to satisfy the City with their bonds , we residents agreed to raise our rent for 7 years, which was the maximum allowed by the City rent law. In addition Mr. Kenyon and Mr. Hoon waived their commissions and agreed to be paid at a later date. The City Subordinate bonds , Mr. Kenyon, and Mr. Hoon have now been fully paid.
As of this date
The primary bonds are estimated to be paid off by 2027. It was always understood with the residents that the City would eventually transfer title to the residents. We have been negotiating for several years with the City to make the transfer. Progress is being made but nothing concrete has transpired.
Mr. Sade got $15,485,000 which was financed by Senior Park bonds and the City Subordinate bond was $1,585,000. Those were the prices we had to finance in 1997 when the City of Novato took over the operation of the Park. Our PAC Board (Park Acquisition Corp) was involved with the transfer of the Park at that time. All operating costs of the Park have always been paid by the residents’ monthly rents. I will say one thing, if the City had not helped us with the financing of the Park and Mr. Sade had sold the Park to another private party, the rent would be double or more and a majority of us would not be able to afford to live here.
November 15, 2012