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By WILL VAN SANT, Times Staff WriterThe county will consider stricter regulations for developers who seek to level mobile home parks.
CLEARWATER - In what could be a first in Florida, Pinellas County officials are considering plans to require developers to help mobile home residents uprooted by new projects.
If county commissioners approve the proposed ordinance this month, developers seeking to level mobile home parks would have to identify alternative housing and offer rental aid to displaced residents.
Because vacant land in Pinellas has all but disappeared, developers are increasingly buying and clearing mobile home parks and replacing them with high-end housing.
"It allows us to lead by example," said County Commissioner Ken Welch.
The ordinance is meant to provide relief to tenants and give developers more certainty and precision.
State law already requires developers to show that "adequate" and "suitable" housing alternatives exist for uprooted mobile home residents. But the law does not define those terms or say how to meet the requirements.
Some developers have merely offered a list of available housing units in the county. That falls short, Pinellas officials say.
As an alternative, the commission will consider an ordinance Dec. 20 that lays out in detail what developers would have to do to.
Here's how it would work:
An applicant who seeks a rezoning or other official action that forces park residents to relocate would have to name the affected tenants, specify the rent they pay and list the number of adults and children who live in each home.
The applicant would then have to identify other housing within 10 miles where uprooted residents could "reasonably expect" to move. The alternatives would have to be comparable in price and restrictions, such as whether pets are allowed.
The county would then create an economic profile of those forced to move and get them to agree to housing counseling. If there was a shortfall between what tenants paid and what they could afford elsewhere, the developer would make up the difference.
A rental subsidy would go into a new trust fund, from which county officials would disburse the rental aid. Developers would be required to deposit money in the fund before getting any permit for the site. The subsidy would have to be provided for up to two years.
The ordinance would eliminate a program the commission approved in October that required developers to provide rental aid of $366 a month for up to two years. That's the difference between Pinellas' average mobile home park rent of $400 and the average apartment rent of $766.
Setting a fixed subsidy opened the door to lawsuits, said County Attorney Susan Churuti. Officials decided each park to be redeveloped should be studied individually so the subsidies match the needs of residents, she said.
Opposition will most likely come from mobile home park owners seeking to profit on the sale of property, not developers, said prominent Clearwater land use attorney Ed Armstrong.
Armstrong, who represents park developers, said his clients are likely to embrace the ordinance because it gives them clear direction even though it's financially burdensome.