Sun-Sentinel 02/15/2010Davie Buys Palma Nova Mobile Home ParkWe would like to thank Susannah Bryan for quickly
reporting this most important issue.
-------------------- By Susanna Bryan South Florida Sun-Sentinel February 15, 2010 Not long ago, the land was home to more than 900 families. Now it is at the center of a controversy that has galvanized outraged residents. In mid-December, Davie paid landowner Austin Forman $12.5 million for 25 acres in the 114-acre Palma Nova mobile home park. The land was assessed at $130,000 an acre, or $3 a square foot, based on its previous use as a mobile home park. It sold to Davie for $500,000 an acre, or $12 a square foot. Citing the need for a park and possibly a utility plant, Davie pulled $9 million from emergency reserves and $3.5 million from the town's open space bond to pay for it. That left the town with $14 million in reserves in a lean budget year with mounting foreclosures and plummeting property values. "I was shocked," said activist Linda Greck. "I felt the whole thing was shoved right through. The whole thing does not seem on the up and up." With Davie residents going to the polls March 9, the land deal has become a political football. The deal passed 3-2, with councilmen Bryan Caletka, Marlon Luis and Michael Crowley supporting it and Mayor Judy Paul and Councilwoman Susan Starkey voting against it. Starkey and Luis are up for re-election; Crowley is not seeking a return to office. Luis is now waffling on his decision. "In hindsight, if we had to do it over again, maybe we would have negotiated more," Luis said. Caletka stands by his vote. "I do agree if the town turned around and tried to sell it, it wouldn't sell for that price today," Caletka said. "But I don't want to sell it. I want to keep it." Attorney Mitch Chester is setting up a website, outrageddavie.org, to give residents a forum to vent and to prevent any similar deals. "If there are lessons to be learned from this, maybe we can explore that," said Chester, who lives in Davie. "We disagree with the three votes [for the land deal] and the manner in which it was done. I am surprised at the level of outrage I have heard around town." On Dec. 18, two days after the vote, Davie bought the parcel, which will now come off the tax rolls. That means about $60,000 less in tax money altogether for Davie, Broward County, the School Board and other taxing districts. However, taxes on the surrounding property owned by Forman likely will jump, based on the reassessed value, said Joe Zdanowicz, chief appraiser for the Broward County Property Appraiser's Office. He said he won't know the new assessed value until later this year. The town paid two firms to appraise the land: Woolslair & Associates and American Realty Consultants, both based in Davie. One valued the parcel at $13,965,000, or $566,280 per acre. The second valued it at $14,725,000, or $589,000 per acre. Bob Love, owner of American Realty, insisted his appraisal, the higher of the two, was based on current market conditions. Both appraisals were based on the highest and best use of what might be built there someday. However, Starkey and other critics question why the town paid a premium during an economic downturn. Greck, vice chair of the town's Open Space Advisory Committee, had sent e-mail to council members before the Dec. 16 meeting, urging them to delay the purchase until they knew what Forman planned to build on the surrounding parcel. "We urged patience, not jumping the gun on the purchase," Greck said. "We wanted to do this with our eyes wide open, not eyes closed shut." Homeowner Ramona Myres put it more succinctly: "Something smells." Susannah Bryan can be reached at sebryan@SunSentinel.com or 954-572-2077. Copyright © 2010, South Florida Sun-Sentinel Visit Sun-Sentinel.com
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