Building a safety net
A Times EditorialThe Mobile Home Transition Program would strike a better balance between developers and mobile home owners who could be displaced.
Published December 19, 2005
Pinellas County commissioners on Tuesday will consider an ordinance affecting mobile home park redevelopment that they acknowledge could trigger legal challenges. It is a "leading edge ordinance," they say, unlike any other in Florida. While it is untested, it seems worth the risk.
Without the proposed Mobile Home Transition Program the ordinance would establish, redeveloping mobile home parks in Pinellas County could be more difficult and any mobile home owners displaced by redevelopment could be left homeless. The program would strike a better balance by providing a clearer path for those who want to redevelop mobile home parks - and money for up to two years to qualified mobile home owners so they can better afford other housing.
Developers are eager to buy and level mobile home parks in built-out Pinellas County, but the parks first must be rezoned to permit other uses such as condominiums or offices. Pinellas commissioners have hesitated to approve such rezonings, because mobile home owners often have their life savings invested in their mobile homes and cannot afford to pay market rates for other housing. Commissioners also have found themselves constrained by the Florida Mobile Home Act, which says no local government may rezone a mobile home park before first determining that "adequate mobile home parks or other suitable facilities exist for the relocation of the mobile home owners." The Legislature failed to define "adequate" or "suitable" or explain how local governments are supposed to find such housing in a soaring real estate market.
Given that lack of guidance, Pinellas County has struck out on its own. Its proposed program says if developers can't assure commissioners that homes residents can afford are available in the county, they may deposit housing assistance money in a county fund that will be parceled out to displaced homeowners based on their financial need.
Some of the staunchest opponents of the proposed ordinance are some mobile home owners, who believe passage of the ordinance Tuesday would lead to more rezonings of parks. They see the homes they own disappearing along with a way of life. But some parks are in such deplorable condition that they should be redeveloped and their residents moved into better, safer housing. At least the county is trying to create a safety net for residents who need one.
The county is under pressure to move quickly on the ordinance because also on Tuesday's agenda is an application for rezoning of the Golden Lantern Mobile Home Park on Park Boulevard. The county previously declined to rezone the park, which would have been replaced by pricey condominiums, and chose to use the Golden Lantern as a test case for designing the transition program. Now the Golden Lantern rezoning is back, this time with the addition of more than 100 affordable apartments, but the developer wants an answer soon.
The ordinance was still being rewritten last week, leaving mobile home residents and park owners little time to review the final product. The county is headed in the right direction, but given the short time frame and the new legal ground being plowed commissioners should not hesitate to delay a vote if all of their questions are not answered.