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Demolition is halted at mobile home park

The buyer is told to stop demolishing a produce stand at Bay Pines. He has pulled a permit, but the bigger question swirling around the park continues. Leo Plenski wants to rein in development. It's a personal matter.

By ANNE LINDBERG
Published June 28, 2006

SEMINOLE - Developer John Loder hit a temporary snag in his plans to raze the Bay Pines Mobile Home Park when the city ordered him to stop tearing down a vegetable stand on the property.

The stop-work order was issued in mid June when the city discovered that Loder did not have a demolition permit for the fruit and vegetable stand, said Bill Sanders, a Seminole building official.

The city also had received complaints that Loder had taken down a carport and utility shed attached to one of the mobile homes in the park, Sanders said.

It'sr unclear if that actually happened, Sanders said, because any work was completed before city officials arrived.

"It's kind of hard to tell after it's gone," Sanders said. "That (complaint) was questionable."

Loder's attorney, Stan Martin of Ruden McClosky in St. Petersburg, declined to comment on the case because of a lawsuit filed by the homeowners association to stop the redevelopment of the park.

The lawsuit, which targets Loder and the attorneys who represented the trust that sold the park, contends that the mobile home owners have the right to remain in the park until 2020.

For now, Sanders said, the situation has been worked out.

Loder halted work on the vegetable stand and applied for a demolition permit on June 19. As of Tuesday, work had not resumed. Loder is looking for a contractor to do the work, according to the application.

The stand was abandoned this month after Loder gave Kimberly Hill of PK Produce one day to get out. Hill, who had run the 20-year-old stand for about six months, managed to get a few days more before she moved all her produce to her stand in the Oakhurst area of Pinellas County.

Loder also will need to get a $50 demolition permit for each trailer he plans to raze on the property at 10005 Bay Pines Blvd., rather than moving them intact, Sanders said.

It is unclear how many of the trailers Loder might have to destroy. Owners have until late this year to decide whether to try to move them or to accept the state-mandated reimbursement for mobile homes that cannot be moved elsewhere ($1,375 for a single-wide, $2,750 for a double-wide).

If the mobile home owners have their way, Loder will not be able to develop the property at all, at least until 2020.

Leo Plenski doesn't think the city is doing enough to control developers. So he's running for mayor.

Plenski, head of the Bay Pines Homeowners Association, is tired of the city not doing enough to protect mobile home park residents. Plenski also helped start Floridians Against Injustice to Residents of Mobile/Manufactured Homes, or FAIR, an activist group that promotes the interests of mobile home owners across the state.

He had lobbied for the Seminole City Council to place a moratorium on development, but officials' refusal to do so helped push Plenski into running for office.

He hoped a moratorium would, at least temporarily, prevent developers from razing mobile home parks to build condos and townhomes.

"I'm definitely going to run for mayor and we're going to take on Jimmy Johnson and the bird flu man, Dan Hester," said Plenski, who is 68.

The reference to council member Hester concerns a question Hester raised a few weeks ago about the threat of bird flu striking Pinellas. Hester is up for re-election in March, as are Johnson and Patricia Hartstein.

Plenski told Hester after the council dismissed the possibility of a moratorium that mobile home activists would target him in the next election.

Johnson is frequently mentioned as a candidate for mayor in next March's race. The seat is being vacated this year by Dottie Reeder, who is running for state House District 51.

Johnson said Monday he had not decided whether to run but welcomed Plenski's interest.

"It's still in limbo," Johnson said. "I think it's wonderful that Leo's running. That's the American way."

Johnson said he will decide in the next two or three months. "We have plenty of time," he said.

There is a possible question of residency for Plenski.

If the association's lawsuit does not prevail, Plenski will have to move out of Bay Pines Mobile Home Park by the end of this year, three months before the election.

Plenski maintained that it would not be a problem. The courts, he said, will enable him and other residents to stay in Bay Pines. But if the courts do not side with him, he said he will move elsewhere in the city so he will remain eligible to serve as mayor.

[Last modified June 28, 2006, 06:58:59]