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Rezone mobile home park? Agency says no

A state agency's view mirrors that of a Pinellas planning group.

By ANNE LINDBERG
Published March 8, 2006

PINELLAS PARK - A state agency has recommended that the county deny a land use change for the Golden Lantern Mobile Home Park because it is in an area vulnerable to severe damage from hurricanes.

The objections noted by the state Department of Community Affairs will not stop the proposed land use change from moving forward, however.

Tim Johnson, the Clearwater attorney who represents the developer, said his client, Triax, will not withdraw. Johnson predicted that the final decision will favor Triax.

"There is no quit in me," Johnson said Tuesday.

But the proposal still has a ways to go. It will be considered next Wednesday by the Pinellas Planning Council, a group of elected representatives from the county's 24 cities, the county and School Board. The PPC makes recommendations to the County Commission about development issues.

Dave Healey, PPC executive director, plans to recommend that the group tell the county to deny the land-use change. The state DCA report, Healey said, only "confirms our understanding that (the Golden Lantern) is or should be in the coastal high hazard area."

State law forbids developers from building more than five units per acre in those areas. Triax wants to build 333 apartments, a small commercial development, and townhomes or condominiums on the 20 acres at 7950 Park Blvd. The site currently has 178 mobile homes.

The proposal would take the density well over the five units per acre.

But Johnson said the DCA has it wrong.

"The report is incorrect when it states that the property is in the coastal high hazard area," Johnson said. "The coastal high hazard area is defined by state law as being in a Category 1 hurricane evacuation zone."

As things stand, the Golden Lantern is in a level two evacuation zone. But the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council has said that when it revamps maps this spring, it will place the Golden Lantern in a level one evacuation zone.

Johnson said that does not matter for two reasons.

First, the change has not been made and it's a "long way" between saying the evacuation zone will change and actually changing it, he said. Second, state law says the determination must be made "as it exists." The Golden Lantern is not currently in a level one evacuation zone and is therefore not in the coastal high hazard area, he said.

"So I don't worry too much about that," Johnson said.

The Golden Lantern has been a contentious issue since January 2005, when mobile home owners who rent spaces in the park were informed of the redevelopment proposal. They objected at first, saying they would be displaced and left homeless because their homes are too old too move.

But last month, 72 of the 100 or so owners in the park cut a deal with Triax. If the rezoning and land-use changes go through, the developer will pay each of them about $17,000 to make up for their losses. That brings the settlement to about $1.2-million.

The County Commission is to make the final decision on the land use change in early April.

[Last modified March 8, 2006, 01:42:19]