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15 mobile homes declared unfit

About 1 in 5 homes in the Sunpiper Mobile Home Park are declared unfit for human living.

By LORRI HELFAND
Published July 27, 2006

LARGO - About two dozen city inspectors, police officers and environmental service workers flooded into Sunpiper Mobile Home Park Wednesday morning, issuing more than 30 violation notices in just a few hours.

Fifteen of about 70 homes, which are rental units, were tagged with signs saying they were uninhabitable. Five homes received violation notices because sewage was seeping from the bottom of them, Largo building official Mike Sizemore said.

The city, which has cracked down on problem parks in the past, was re-energizing its commitment to do so, City Manager Steve Stanton said. The park is at 1760 Clearwater-Largo Road, just south of the Clearwater city limits.

"It's depressing to find that people are living in those conditions," Stanton said. "I'm embarrassed that it's gotten to that state."

Park owner Andrea Trani said Largo's actions were out of line.

"These type of Gestapo tactics are unbelievable. They're scaring people," said Trani, president of Key Largo Communities, which bought Sunpiper and Braginton Mobile Home Park this month for about $2.6-million.

Worst of all, Trani said, her property wasn't even legally annexed by Largo. Her attorney, Michael Rodriguez, said he was seeking an injunction to prevent future harassment from Largo officials.

Stanton said the property where Sunpiper sits was legally annexed several months ago. But he also said the health violations are an issue no matter what jurisdiction the park is in.

Almost all of the units, which rent from about $525 to $725 a month, had some kind of disrepair, Sizemore said.

A number of residents stood up for the landlords, saying they cleaned out heaps of trash in the park and fixed plumbing and other problems that previous landlords ignored.

"This lady's trying to help us and they're trying to close her down," said Toni Prevost, 40, who received a violation notice for stacking coolers on her back porch.

Trani said she's already invested about $50,000 to revamp Sunpiper and Braginton.

But some residents said problems with their homes fell on deaf ears, and a few said they wouldn't criticize the landlord for fear of eviction.

Carolyn Reed, who lives with her husband and 21-month-old daughter, said she's been having problems for months with flushing the toilet. Her home is one of the five that were found to be seeping sewage. There was no pipe connecting the home to the sewer system, officials said.

Reed, who covered holes in her walls with a calendar and aluminum foil, said she also has a leaky roof, soft spots in the floor and ant and roach problems she and her husband are treating themselves.

Trani said the tenants who complain are probably disgruntled because they're facing eviction.

Times researcher Angie Holan contributed to this report.

[Last modified July 27, 2006, 06:04:14]