Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Neighborhood Report

Desperate mobile home dwellers plead for help

City Council member John Dingfelder offers support, but it isn't enough for some residents.

By ALEXANDRA ZAYAS
Published June 23, 2006

Timothy Frederick thought times were bad three months ago when his family got a letter saying they would have to pack their belongings and leave Holiday Mobile Home Park after they invested $6,000 in a home six months ago.

Then things got worse.

One recent afternoon, neighbors saw a group of men in a red pickup drive off with a shed in Frederick's yard. They stole about $1,000 worth of his belongings, including a four-wheeler and air-conditioning unit.

One by one, residents started abandoning their mobile homes after a Clearwater developer who bought the Interbay Boulevard park offered a $1,000 incentive to vacate before July 31. Those who remain are witnessing their neighborhood decay into a hotbed of crime.

"It's spooky," said Nancy Adams, 65, who often sees shadows running in the dark, ransacking the abandoned homes. "It's a ghost town."

City Council member John Dingfelder met with residents Tuesday night at First Baptist Church of Port Tampa to discuss their concerns. During a tour of the park Sunday, he had seen a young man brandishing a gun.

"This is a tragedy that's happened to Sunnydale, it's happened to Holiday and it's happening to parks across the state," he said.

Dingfelder introduced a Tampa police lieutenant, who said officers would step up patrols. He introduced state and county officials to help residents find affordable housing.

He invited residents to share their problems.

Sewage overflows under trailers, residents said. Foreign-speaking residents are confused by the process. Questions and complaints toward the new owners are falling on deaf ears, they said.

There was no representative of Boos Florida Development at Tuesday's meeting.

Dingfelder advised residents to hire attorneys and join the Federation of Manufactured Home Owners of Florida, advocates who intervene when new owners take over parks and lobby lawmakers to seek more protection for mobile home owners.

Single-wide owners will receive $1,375 to leave behind their mobile homes. Double-wide owners will get $2,750.

Several residents left the meeting after they learned that Dingfelder couldn't get them more money than park owners have offered them.

"I'm not going to stand here and say there are miracles waiting in this church," Dingfelder said. But there was a bigger picture.

"Get change not only for yourselves, but also for people that this is happening to across the state."

Alexandra Zayas can be reached at 813 226-3354 or azayas@sptimes.com.

[Last modified June 22, 2006, 11:48:04]