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It's home and they're staying

Lakeside Mobile Home Park's remaining residents are looking at legal action options.

By MIKE DONILA
Published January 25, 2007

CLEARWATER - There's not a whole lot to do around Lakeside Mobile Home Park anymore.

The recreation center is locked, so friendly games of bingo, shuffleboard and cards are out of the question. And the swimming pool was roped off some time ago.

The place is also starting to look like an eyesore. Many trailers have been removed, leaving nothing but rubble. And the empty ones are falling apart.

But at least 65 residents in this once-thriving community still call Lakeside home.

They just don't know for how much longer.

Nickel Plate Properties, which owns the 28-acre park, at Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard and Belcher Road, has plans to seek a rezoning of the area for "something other than mobile homes," says company president Mike Rausch.

Last May, roughly 200 residents were told to leave by the end of 2006.

Most did.

They either abandoned their homes or sold them to Nickel Plate for $2,000 to $4,000 - far below their worth.

But about 65 homeowners opted to stay, with the majority saying they didn't have anywhere else to go and couldn't afford to leave.

They say they can't replace their trailers with the amount of money Nickel Plate is offering.

On Tuesday, about "90 percent" of the remaining homeowners woke up with eviction notices taped to their doors, residents said.

In a hastily gathered homeowners association meeting that morning, residents in this senior citizen community discussed their options and said they'll most likely pursue whatever legal avenues they can, no matter how futile it looks right now.

"I thought this might be my last move when I moved down here," says 69-year-old Bob Cunningham, a Connecticut transplant who retired 14 months ago to the Clearwater mobile home park.

Another, Jean Wood, said the residents just want "fair market value" for their homes and "we'd be out within two weeks."

"They just want us to leave the park with as little expense as possible on their part," said Wood, 80.

Just what exactly happens next is the million-dollar question.

Rausch says, "It's in the hands of the attorneys now."

But there are other complications.

While almost 50 homes have been removed by various professional services, a Pinellas County judge last Friday said they'd been relocated improperly because they didn't follow federal safety guidelines.

He singled out five companies that possibly participated and said neither they nor anyone else could move or demolish any more homes unless they follow the proper channels.

Court records say these companies either "encouraged, caused or removed" homes from the park.

The records cited Nickel Plate Properties, Lakeside Enterprises, Home Solution, WE FIVE and Caffrey Services.

Officials with the latter three could not be reached for comment.

Rausch, who represents Nickel Plate and Lakeside, said his companies didn't participate and were kept in the dark by the county.

The removals were discovered during a routine check of the property two weeks ago, records show.

Peter Hessling, the air quality division director for Pinellas County's Department of Environmental Management, said the companies violated emissions laws because they didn't conduct asbestos surveys, nor did they correctly contain any possible asbestos that could get exposed once the trailers are hauled off.

"There are some health concerns," said Hessling, particularly for people still living on the property, if the carcinogen gets in the air.

Asbestos can cause severe lung problems, including cancer.

Hessling said "it's hard to speculate" if anyone should be worried at this point.

The companies, he said, could face stiff fines if they don't cooperate.

In the meantime, residents are still mailing in their roughly $350-per-month rent checks, but Nickel Plate is returning them to the residents' attorney, Cunningham said.

Nickel Plate officials say they don't have plans to sell the property, but feel they can make more money if the city rezones it so something else can be built there.

Residents have said they've heard all kinds of rumors about what could be built on the property, which is across the street from a busy Publix shopping center.

Some say the land was targeted for a Kohl's department store and a movie theater; others say Publix was interested.

But during the past months, those suggestions have been shot down.

"It's anyone's guess right now," Cunningham said.

[Last modified January 24, 2007, 23:08:14]