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Mobile home park's future is uncertain

Residents at the Golden Lantern park across from the Wagon Wheel Flea Market vow to fight an eviction, if it comes.

By ANNE LINDBERG
Published January 16, 2005

Josephine Todd spent years struggling, but last July, she finally scraped together enough money to buy a mobile home at Golden Lantern Mobile Home Park.

It seemed, for once, her life was looking up.

At least until Jan. 5.

That day she and her neighbors came home to find notes on their doors informing them that one of the owners, Robert Keathley, had applied for a zoning change for the park.

If granted, the change would clear the way for townhomes or condominiums and a small commercial site on the 19.6 acres at 7950 Park Blvd. It is in the unincorporated area between Pinellas Park and Seminole, across from the Wagon Wheel Flea Market.

If the change is granted, Todd and many others at the Golden Lantern will likely lose their homes, many of which are dilapidated and unlikely to be movable. Even if they could be moved, it is unclear whether many of the owners could afford to have them brought up to code.

"We finally got something to call our own," Todd said Thursday. "It isn't much . . . but we finally got our feet on the ground (and now) they're kicking our a-- out."

Folks who own their mobile homes will not be left entirely destitute, said Len Ciecieznski, assistant director of communications for Pinellas County.

Under state law, owners whose mobile homes can be moved receive $3,000 for a singlewide and $6,000 for a doublewide to help with the move.

Those whose homes can't be moved receive $1,375 for a singlewide and $2,750 for a doublewide.

But that still means a loss for Todd. She paid $2,500 for her mobile home last July and added $1,500 worth of improvements, she said.

Todd's not the only one.

Charles Plancon paid $6,500 for his mobile home in 2001. When he bought it from Golden Lantern, it had no floors. So he installed them and made $4,000 to $6,000 in other improvements: air conditioning, redoing the bathroom, installing a shower.

"That's not counting the sweat equity," Plancon said.

Pamela Albach and her husband, Robert Peachey, bought their mobile home on New Year's Day for $700. Five days later they got the notice about the proposed zoning change.

Worse things were to come.

The county tax man came by Thursday and put a red tag on all mobile homes with overdue taxes. Albach and Peachey discovered they'd have to pay $407 in back taxes before the home would be theirs. That's in addition to the taxes they now owe as homeowners.

Worried, angry homeowners gathered at Sandra Short's mobile home Thursday to compare notes and try to come up with a plan of action. Three Pinellas County representatives came to try to help walk them through the process.

The first to speak was Jack Putzer, the park manager. Putzer tried to reassure people, telling them they had nothing to fear.

"There's been no offer made to purchase the park," Putzer said. "All they are finding out is if they can build and what they can build."

Ciecieznski disputed that. What normally has happened in such a case, he said, is that the property owner has received an offer. Any contract for sale depends on whether the zoning change is granted. And a change, he said, is not a given.

He urged folks to organize, attend all public hearings concerning the issue, and call their County Commission members, who will make the final decision.

"The Board of County Commissioners can be swayed because they're human, too," Ciecieznski said.

But as he described the few options and the low payout for loss of homes, the anger mounted.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding!"

"Ain't no way!"

"That's barely enough to cover expenses!"

Plancon and the others vowed to fight the zoning change at every step. Plancon said he had already spent time contacting commissioners and state and national legislators, and collecting information.

"The owners are counting on the people in this mobile home park to be backward, hillbilly rednecks, to not know what to ask, who to ask," he said.

But folks can learn and fight the change, he said.

The first hearing on the proposed rezoning of the Golden Lantern Mobile Home Park will be at 9 a.m. Feb. 3 in front of a county examiner. The next hearing is at 6:30 p.m. March 15 in front of the County Commission. Another hearing is planned for 9:30 a.m. April 20 in front of the Pinellas Planning Council. A final determination is expected July 5. All hearings will be on the fifth floor of the Pinellas County Courthouse, 315 Court St., Clearwater. All are open to the public.

[Last modified January 16, 2005, 00:33:22]