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TARPON SPRINGS - Tarpon Pines Village mobile home park is no Xanadu.
The only marker at the park's entryway is a speed limit sign that seems to wave drivers on. No one here can remember a time when the roads weren't rotten with ruts. Paradise got lost years ago there, where mobile homes are buckled by years of neglect.
But none of that matters much to the residents. They take solace in the wild hibiscus that creeps onto their narrow lawns. And before the eviction letter arrived last month, many thought they would always call Tarpon Pines home.
"Our plan was to stay here until our son was out of school," said resident Walter Brothers.
Now Brothers, 48, and his family are not only looking for a new home, his wife, Heidi, 37, is looking for a new job. Her five-minute walk to her job as a cashier at a nearby Winn-Dixie just won't be possible any more. Eight dollars an hour may not seem like much, but it sure beats starting at the bottom again.
"I'm not going to make that kind of money right off the bat," Heidi Brothers said. "I'll have start from scratch."
So will dozens of people who live in Tarpon Pines. Residents say a little more than half of the roughly 55 trailers and mobile homes near the corner of Pinellas Avenue S and Meres Boulevard are actually occupied. But they say they know little else about the place they call home.
"We get different stories," said resident Lucille Minalga, 74. "But no one tells us what's going on."
Residents say they have heard little from Tarpon Pines owner Charles W. Seitz since he sent a letter on May 11 saying he had hired a Largo firm called AGRS to manage the 5.9-acre property. Seitz wrote then that his recent illness made the change necessary, but he had no plans to sell the property. But nine days later, residents received a letter from AGRS telling them they'd have to be out in six months.
Seitz did not respond to several calls to his home in Brandon. Messages left on AGRS' answering machine went unreturned Thursday. Seitz's son and Tarpon Pines' onetime live-in manager, Tim, confirmed that his father was considering selling the property.
"My father's old. He has heart trouble. He just can't take care of it anymore," Tim Seitz said.
But he added that he knew few details about what would happen next at Tarpon Pines.
The property is valued at a little more than $1-million, according to Pinellas County property appraiser records. But anyone interested in buying Tarpon Pines will likely look twice before leaping. Since 1997, Tarpon Pines has racked up 102 code violations, accumulating about $409,000 in fines and liens, said Tarpon Springs code enforcement officer Bill Schiably.
Several of the homes have been condemned over the years and declared "unfit for human habitation" by city code enforcement inspectors. Violations included problems with decaying structures, sewage problems, improper electrical wiring and health and safety concerns, Schiably said.
"The place is just a dump," Schiably said. "There are some people who try to keep it up, but it's hard."
The condition of the structures will make it hard for many Tarpon Pines residents to move their homes to another park. The state's mobile home relocation fund provides only $1,375 to owners who abandon their single-wide mobile homes. Those who own double-wides would receive $2,750. For residents who can take their homes with them, the state provides $3,000 for single-wide mobile homes and $6,000 for double-wide or larger. But mobile home park residents will have to apply directly to the state for the funds, said Don Hazleton, president of the Federation of Manufactured Home Owners of Florida.
"Park owners are not required to tell residents about the state (funds)," Hazelton said. "They're only required to give them six months' notice before they vacate the property."
Tarpon Pines is one of about 300 mobile home parks in Pinellas County, Hazelton said. More than a million people in Florida live in manufactured housing, while a total of roughly 20-million live in mobile homes throughout the United States. It is one of the fastest-growing sectors of housing, according to 2000 census reports.
But those growing numbers do little to discourage park owners from taking advantage of residents, Hazelton said.
"Park owners need to understand they're dealing with human beings," Hazelton said. "Not just things that can be moved around like trash."
Brothers agrees. Still in shock over the news of the impending eviction, he said he just wants to know what the future holds.
"I don't know how we'll ever be able to find a place as convenient as this," Brothers said. "I wish they would just let us stay here."
- Candace Rondeaux can be reached at 727 771-4307 or rondeaux@sptimes.com