WATERVILLE — The city now has the power to intervene when mobile home park owners want to raise lot rental costs to park residents.

When, for instance, park owners want to increase rents by more than the last Social Security cost of living adjustment, park owners must attend a hearing with a city rent stabilization board. Park owner must also submit a petition for lot increases to the city and park renters, including supporting documents, to justify the increase. Hearings must begin within 30 days of a park owner petition.

These are just some of the requirements mandated in a new city mobile home park lot stabilization ordinance the City Council approved Tuesday night by a 6-0 vote, with one councilor absent.

Mobile home park residents, including those who live in Countryside Mobile Home Park off West River Road, have complained to the city that their lot rental fees have increased every year and they received letters from park owners last year that their fees will go from $500 to $600, which they said they can’t afford.

Many renters have said they fear having to leave their homes with no place to go, as apartment rental costs are high and buying a home is cost prohibitive. Many are retirees on fixed incomes.

The council voted 6-0 in September to approve a temporary ban on lot rental increases, effective until April 20, to give city officials time to craft the ordinance.

The council in early January this year voted to approve the ordinance and needed to take a second, final vote for it to be finalized. They took that second vote Tuesday.

Loise and Joe Lemieux and their neighbor Diana Combellick of Countryside Mobile Home Park attended Tuesday’s meeting. They have been strong voices for the city to intervene in the lot rental issue.

Combellick asked councilors if the city stabilization board is in place, to which Mayor Mike Morris said it is not, but councilors plan to establish it at the council’s next meeting, which is Feb. 17. Loise Lemieux wanted to know when park owners can attempt to raise rents again.

Councilor Spencer Krigbaum, D-Ward 5, explained the ordinance will go into effect in 21 days and then the proposed increases must go through the newly established procedures. Officials said the moratorium stays in place until the April sundown date.

Councilors made amendments to the proposed ordinance, including that the majority of members on the stabilization board must be Waterville residents. Krigbaum said the amendments and language changes to the proposal answered any questions he had about it.

“I think it’s quite well-written now,” he said, “and it covers a lot of our bases, and a lot of questions that I previously had have been resolved.”

Besides Countryside, there is only one other mobile home park in the city, Pooler’s Parkway, off Grove Street. They are owned by C37 LLC, a private equity firm and they encompass about 300 mobile homes, most of which are in Countryside. Most residents own their homes but pay rental lot fees and fees for other services including sewer, water, trash disposal, electricity and pets.