Re: Shopping club okay might set precedent, story, May 22, concerning demolition of "decades" old Skylark Mobile Home Park.
My mobile home park is four-plus decades old, and you would be hard-put to find a home in our 480-unit park that would be considered unfit to live in.
Pinellas County and its cities are running out of space. Everyone in elected office seems to offer lip service, but few of them ever seem to do anything about this new trend of eliminating the homes of thousands of Pinellas County residents because the old words "trailer park" still seem to run in their brains.
We were lured to Florida by the advertisements sent out from the state of Florida and its counties offering inexpensive retirement in local mobile home parks. In other words, we were lured here just to fill up land space (bring our retirement monies and spend, spend, spend).
Now that we have done our job of filling land space, they want to throw us out and build larger commercial and residential communities.
I challenge anyone from the city of Largo, where I reside, or the county to visit my home in Largo and tell me what is wrong with our way of life or the style in which we live it.
I will soon be 81 and my dear wife is soon to be 82. In our mobile home park we have everything we want: good neighbors, a fine clubhouse, a heated swimming pool and more programs than any one of us could possibly take advantage of.
A mobile home such as ours can't be moved without spending almost $8,000 to take it down and put it up somewhere else. Ours is 32 feet wide and 60 feet long. Where could I move it to?
Although we in Pinellas have more than 59,000 mobile homes, we are losing out to Pasco County, which is now ranked as the largest mobile home county in Florida.
We still have tens of thousands of younger families and older retirees residing in their owned homes just waiting for the shoe to drop when the landowner decides to sell his land at a tremendous profit by throwing out the people who made him rich in the first place.
The state, the county or the cities have no way of relocating or reimbursing the lost sheep who have little to say about their situation.
Your paper seems to always be championing lost causes, but you have been more in the middle of this drive to eliminate manufactured homeowners living in Pinellas County. How about a shot from you in really covering the concerns of we who have chosen to reside in a mobile home park for the fun and friendship that is found in our style of community?
By the way, few, if any, of my neighbors could be thought of as poor. We do have a few widows who have lost their mates and are finding it hard to meet expenses. They are few and far between, and we do look to see how we, as a community, can help.
There is a lot more to be said for the mobile home communities. Your paper has been of some help, but this new situation where our elected officials are looking for ways to eliminate us has got to be brought to light before it is too late.
-- James W. "Bill" Jones, Clearwater
Time to concentrate on feeding the hungry in Clearwater
Re: Food pantry might be forced to shut its doors, story, May 21.
I am dismayed to learn that the Clearwater Community Development Board has refused to reconsider the Religious Community Services Food Pantry's request to relocate on Myrtle Avenue at Hart Street.
After literally months of searching, this is the only property they found within the city that is both available and satisfactory for the pantry's needs.
The reason for the denial, as stated by the dissenting members, was "procedural," the failure of the original application adequately to address the parking issue.
Yet when the pantry officials requested another hearing, believing they had solved the problem, they were treated like naughty children who had failed to complete their homework on time.
Amazingly, both their supporters and their lawyer were refused rebuttal time at both meetings.
It appears that the real problem is some misunderstanding between the city and its development board. Please, in the interest of justice, let us clear that out of the way and get on with the real and vital issue of securing a permanent home for our food pantry.
-- Sabine Korosy, Clearwater
Take steps needed to ensure that no one goes to bed hungry
Re: Food pantry might be forced to shut its doors, story, May 21.
To a degree, the Clearwater Community Development Board is right and no problem should have an automatic, rubber-stamp answer. However, we are not talking about some new location for entertainment, but an organization that feeds hungry people. Thirty-eight percent are children, and they shouldn't be ignored like a dirty used toy.
Why can't the CDB extend its help to make sure no one in this area goes to bed hungry?
Since 9/11, we have more families on welfare and living on limited funds than at any time since the 1930s. Why can't someone come forward and either rent another building for RCS or have the city find a way to help RCS be able to stay in its present location?
It's hard to believe that a city where 90 percent of us have more food than we need can't find some charity in our hearts to help this organization and make sure no one goes to bed hungry. This is no fly-by-night organization, but a real, needed service for the hungry in our area.
Many people, even those with jobs, can't make ends meet, and the food pantry gives them a helping hand when needed. This is a wonderful service, and one that should never be closed down as long as we have hungry people in our midst.
Here's hoping the CDB finds a bit of compassion in its heart to make sure we feed the hungry in Clearwater.
-- Fran Glaros, Clearwater
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