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Corridor proposal tweaked

The city must examine housing options for displaced residents before the Clearwater-Largo Road redevelopment plan gets under way.

By SHANNON TAN
Published July 20, 2005

LARGO - City commissioners approved changes to the Clearwater-Largo Road redevelopment plan Tuesday, hoping to satisfy the county's concerns.

The plan to revitalize the blighted corridor has been in the works for the past decade. The City Commission approved the plan in March, but the county said the mobile home relocation assistance program was pre-empted by state statute. Meanwhile, developers are weary of the wait, and city officials are frustrated.

"We think we've got it all worked out, and some new item comes out of the blue," said Vice Mayor Gay Gentry.

At the heart of the issue is the unprecedented number of people who will be displaced from a community redevelopment area.

There are 862 mobile homes in 12 parks in the Clearwater-Largo Road planning area. HDR Inc., which conducted a study of mobile home relocation assistance options, found that replacement housing outside the corridor could mean monthly rent increases of $45 to $175 a month. The median household income in the district is $20,664, compared to $32,217 citywide.

The amended plan will still give developers incentives to replace aging mobile home parks with multifamily housing developments and offer residents nearly double the relocation compensation required by state statute. Tenants will get $250 to $1,550 based on how long they've lived in the mobile home, while homeowners receive $2,500 for single-wide and $5,000 for double-wide units. But the 12-month notification to residents, instead of the six months required under state law, has now been taken out because of the pre-emption issue. And at least half of the park has to be occupied for developers to be eligible for the incentives. This would deter a park owner from forcing tenants out.

A new clause will require city officials to determine that affordable, safe and sanitary housing exists for displaced residents before they can approve a site plan for a development. The developer would have to submit that study.

The city will also budget $50,000 annually for relocation counseling by staff or a local nonprofit housing agency.

Other changes to the plan include keeping the future land use of an old lumberyard industrial. Third Street NW residents worried that townhomes would be built at the site, but an attorney for the lumberyard's owners objected to the change. A final vote and hearing is Aug. 2.

Commissioners also voted 5-1 to set a maximum property tax rate of 4.75 mills, which means homeowners of a $100,000 house, assuming a $25,000 homestead exemption, would pay $356.25 annually.

[Last modified July 20, 2005, 00:57:15]