Sun-Sentinel 04/14/05

Centex, Inc. was the previous developer after Coral Lake only the deal fell through.

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Mobile home residents protest as developer eyes park for townhouses
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By Stephen Deere
Staff Writer
April 14, 2005

Judy Smith can't afford to move.

Not on a monthly Social Security income of roughly $1,200. Not with a son afflicted with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder who must attend a special school nearby. She barely makes it as it is. She recycles cans to feed her children. She picks through junk piles for furniture. The mobile home where she lives was a gift.

"I have nowhere to go," she says.

In a struggle that has pitted hundreds of financially strapped Meadowbrook Mobile Home Park residents against mega-developer Centex Homes, that has become the battle cry.

And they hope to make it clear to Palm Beach County Zoning commissioners at a meeting on May 5.

Centex wants to buy the park in unincorporated Palm Beach County near Okeechobee Boulevard and the Florida Turnpike and build 618 townhouses. The sale of the park is pending a rezoning application that first will be considered by the Planning and Zoning Commission and then later in the month by county commissioners.

The dispute between the developer and mobile homeowners is forcing the county into uncertain territory.

State law governing the relocation of mobile homes is vague, officials say.

It requires the developer to demonstrate that "adequate mobile home parks or other suitable facilities exist for the relocation."

But what does suitable mean?

"The state statute is very general," said Jon MacGillis, director of Palm Beach County Zoning Division, adding that he is seeking county commissioners' advice on how to approach the issue.

The development plan comes at a time when county officials are becoming acutely conscious of the shortage of affordable housing.

"It's become a crisis," said Commissioner Jeff Koons, whose district includes the park. "The conversion of mobile home parks presents a major, major problem."

The park contains an eclectic mix of immigrants, retirees, snowbirds, the disabled and about 600 people who head to work everyday. And Koons, who would like to see the park preserved, said their displacement would have an ill effect on the county. Skyrocketing home prices push workers away from population centers, leaving businesses with a shortage of employees who provide a community's basic services.

Although county officials said they haven't had much experience with mobile home park conversions, the story of Meadowbrook Park is becoming familiar throughout the county. In November, a Coral Gables-based developer announced plans to build 180 townhouses at a mobile home park in Boynton Beach.

Residents first learned of plans to sell the park back in October, just after hurricanes Frances and Jeanne. Many came home to find notices taped to their doors.

Panicked, they started meeting and formed a homeowners association. They had a bake sale and raised money for a lawyer.

Originally, they had hoped to form a cooperative and buy the park themselves.

By law, homeowners' associations have the right of first refusal when a park is up for sale, but residents were denied that right because the association was formed after a contract had been drawn up. They were not told the asking price.

According to a relocation study sponsored by Centex, the residents have plenty of places to move.

Nearly 500 mobile home owners live in the park, and the study says there are 564 vacant mobile home sites, 569 mobile homes for sale and 1,633 apartments for rent -- all within 10 miles.

But residents say the study is flawed.

Meadowbrook resident Kay Thomas said she called every one of the mobile home parks listed. There are only about 80 vacant sites available at them, she said.

Centex officials could not be reached for comment about the discrepancy despite numerous messages left at the company's local office and on a representative's cell phone.

Apartments listed in the study range from $275 to $985 a month, but the vast majority are more than $600 and are one-bedrooms or efficiencies.

Park residents pay an average $321.50 a month in rent for their lots, and many of the mobile homes have more than one bedroom.

Most residents couldn't move into apartments because most complexes do credit checks. "That alone knocks us out of most of these places," said Rick Capri, the homeowner's association president.

State subsidies would provide $3,000 to $6,000 to move the homes, depending on their size. But in many cases that would only cover about half the cost of moving a mobile home, residents say. If they abandon the homes, they could receive between $1,375 and $2,750.

Mobile home parks have their own restrictions. Some won't allow homes made before 2000, and that would eliminate the possibility of many Meadowbrook residents moving in.

The law does not provide for mobile homeowners who have mortgages. Some residents said they couldn't afford to rent an apartment and pay off their mortgages at the same time. It would force them into bankruptcy.

Carl Cascio, the residents' attorney, said the Meadowbrook Mobile Home Park represents a microcosm of Palm Beach County's most significant dilemma: What limits should it set on its growth?

If development is allowed to continue unchecked, there will be more traffic problems, more overcrowded schools and fewer places for workers to live, he said.

"This is indicative of what's going to go on in the entire county if you keep doing this," he said.

Capri, who owns a local bus company, plans on busing residents to the meeting in May to beseech the zoning commission.

Last week, Smith was busy writing her speech.

She was writing about her 16-year-old son. It took three years to get him accepted to the Indian Ridge School, which serves children with developmental disabilities.

Before he began attending there four years ago he'd been hospitalized 17 times with self-inflicted injuries. Since then he has only been to the hospital once. She doesn't want to move for his sake, she said.

"He's come a long way," Smith said. "But he's got a long way to go."

Stephen Deere can be reached at scdeere@sun-sentinel (.com) or 561-832-1647.

Copyright © 2005, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

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