Santa Rosa was within its rights to consider the opinions of tenants when it rejected a plan for a condominium-style conversion of a mobile home park, a court has ruled. The city in 2010 blocked plans by the owner of the 178-unit Country Mobile Home Park on Fulton Road to convert from one where tenants rented their spaces to one where they could own them.

The Sonoma County Planning Commission Thursday rejected plans for a condo-style conversion of a Santa Rosa mobile home park. Owners sought to subdivide the 191-unit Sequoia Gardens Mobile Home Park off Fulton Road, a county-controlled area within the city of Santa Rosa.

The Santa Rosa Planning Commission unanimously rejected a plan by the owner of a Santa Rosa mobile home park to stop renting spaces and start selling them. “I don’t intend to make an entire community of seniors essentially homeless,” said Commissioner Erin Carlstrom. An appeal is expected.

The owners of the Country Mobile Home Park want to start selling the lots at the Santa Rosa community instead of renting them. But residents and city staff believes the plan is an effort to sidestep Santa Rosa’s rent control ordinance. A showdown is expected at the Planning Commission today.

Petaluma has agreed to settle two lawsuits filed by mobile home park owners challenging arbitration rulings under the city’s mobile home rent control ordinance. It clears the deck of any ongoing legal challenges to the city’s rent control ordinance.