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Legality of Sunpiper's annexation in dispute

The current owner, and a previous one, say the city hasn't the authority to condemn units at the mobile home park. City officials say they do.

By LORRI HELFAND
Published October 20, 2006

LARGO - As city officials move forward with a sweeping code enforcement case at the Sunpiper Mobile Home Park, the park's owners are questioning whether Largo officials even have jurisdiction on the property.

The city cracked down on Sunpiper this summer, condemning at least 13 units and citing the park owner for numerous violations.

But the owner and her attorney say Largo had no right to do so because the park wasn't properly annexed last year.

"Every piece of evidence has showed me that we're not in Largo," said Helene Provenzano, a partner in Key Largo Communities Corp., owners of the park. "How can you can condemn units that weren't in Largo?"

City officials maintain the annexation was legal and say the larger issue is that the mobile home park is unsafe.

"We are enforcing the exact same code that Pinellas County is," said City Manager Steve Stanton. "Government has an absolute responsibility to protect those who are least able to protect themselves."

Largo found 150 moderate to serious violations in homes at the park in July and August. Five homes received violation notices because sewage was seeping from the bottom of them, officials said.

But Provenzano said her company has invested at least $30,000 to clean up and repair the park in the weeks before Largo inspectors moved in and didn't have time to take care of all issues before the park was inspected.

She and her attorney say the citations are improper because the annexation was flawed.

"The annexation issue is a very important issue and the underlying issue is jurisdiction," said Brian Battaglia, an attorney representing Key Largo Communities.

But Stanton and other officials said the city followed proper procedure.

"Whatever the laws required us to do, we did," he said.

Ownership disputes

The Sunpiper property has had three owners in recent years.

R2 Property Co. owned the park until June 2006. That's when it conveyed the park to a company represented by Patrick Byrne. The same day, Byrne deeded it to the current owner, Key Largo Communities.

Key Largo Communities has said it bought Sunpiper and nearby Braginton Mobile Home Park for about $2.6-million.

But the annexation took place in June 2005, a year before the sale to Byrne.

City Attorney Alan Zimmet said Byrne told the city by e-mail he was authorized to sign a petition for annexation, which he did in March 2005, before his company bought the park.

But the former owner, Jeff Shadowens, backs Provenzano.

"The property was annexed illegally," said Shadowens, vice president of R2 Property Co., which still owned the park when it was annexed in June 2005, according to county records. "They did not have permission to do so."

Shadowens said he didn't learn of the annexation until he was informed of code violations on his property late last year by Largo. Pinellas County records show county code enforcement officials also cited Shadowens multiple times for housing violations and trash accumulation.

Shadowens' attorney, Charles E. Schuh, wrote a letter to the city in January 2006 saying Byrne, who had already signed the annexation petition, had an option to buy the property, but had not exercised it. Schuh said Byrne didn't legally consent to the annexation because he didn't own the property when he signed the petition.

Schuh asked the city to negate the "void and improper" annexation that was initiated without his client's consent.

Calls to Byrne's office and home in Virginia were not returned Wednesday.

Schuh spoke with then assistant city attorney Tammi Bach, who suggested a meeting with city officials, Schuh said.

But city officials said Shadowens never contested the annexation in court and received city services for a year.

City officials also said the new owners should have known they were in Largo because property records indicated so.

On July 31, Key Largo Communities was served with a notice of violation specifically for 13 units deemed unsafe and the company filed an appeal with the city.

Tuesday, city commissioners decided to appoint the code enforcement board to hear the appeal next month.

Lorri Helfand can be reached at 445-4155 or lorri@sptimes.com.

[Last modified October 19, 2006, 23:08:41]