Apr 8 Support for Proposed Amendments to Floating Home Marina Rent Protections (Follow-Up to AB 252, 2022)

April 8, 2025

Re: Support for Proposed Amendments to Floating Home Marina Rent Protections (Follow-Up to AB 252, 2022)

To Whom It May Concern:

On behalf of the Marin County Board of Supervisors, I am pleased to express our strong support for the current Legislative Proposal to amend and refine berth rent protections for floating home marinas in Marin County, building on the framework originally established by Assembly Bill 252 (Bonta, 2022).

These proposed amendments are the result of extensive, multi-year community engagement involving the Floating Homes Association (FHA) Legislative Action Committee (LAC), marina owners, Assemblymember Connolly’s and Senator McGuire’s offices, and County staff under Supervisor Moulton-Peters’ leadership. The final proposal is a testament to what can be achieved when a grassroots, community-based approach meaningfully engages all affected stakeholders. It reflects a lasting, consensus-driven solution with strong support from both marina owners—who are committed to maintaining vibrant and sustainable waterfront neighborhoods—and the FHA Legislative Action Committee.

While AB 252 established important provisions to stabilize berth rental rate increases for floating homeowners in Contra Costa, Alameda and Marin counties -- Marin’s unique circumstances call for targeted refinements. The largest floating home marinas in Marin are characterized by longstanding practices of offering extended leases—often 10, 20, or even 30 years. Sustained capital investment is also essential to preserving both the value of homes and the marinas themselves, particularly in preparing for sea level rise. These capital investments depend on the ability to responsibly reset berth rents as homes steadily turn over to new buyers, while continuing to protect long-time residents on fixed incomes.

Over the past two years, Supervisor Moulton-Peters and County staff have engaged closely with residents, marina owners and the FHA – holding dozens of in-person and virtual meetings with the LAC and marina owners, and attending FHA events to answer questions and hear feedback from residents on proposed changes to AB 252. Through this inclusive and collaborative process, we have gained a deep understanding of the concerns of both homeowners and marina owners. We are confident that the resulting proposal maintains strong renter protections while enabling necessary vital infrastructure investments by marinas.

The proposed amendments achieve a critical balance by:

• Providing improved reasonable rent stabilization, including tying annual rent increases to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) with a minimum and maximum range​.
• Allowing modest, regulated adjustments to berth rent upon the sale of a floating home, preserving financing viability for new buyers while ensuring marina owners can maintain operations and make new investments​.
• Enabling marina owners to recover actual costs for services rendered while prohibiting arbitrary or unrelated fees​.
• Extending berth rent and regulatory certainty to 2038, eight years beyond AB 252’s original 2030 sunset date​.

These carefully negotiated changes recognize the unique and historic nature of Marin's floating home communities—places that embody cultural, artistic, and socioeconomic diversity—and the need for stable, collaborative management of our waterfronts into the future.

We respectfully urge your shared support for this proposal, and extend our deep appreciation to all whose time, dedication and care for their community has brought us to this important milestone.

Sincerely, 

Mary Sackett, President
Marin County Board of Supervisors

CC:      Marin County Board of Supervisors

Attachment A: Memo from Floating Homeowner Association Legislative Action Committee dated March 2025

Attachment B: Floating Times – Important Update to Legislative Proposal dated April 2, 2025