Sun-Sentinel 05/06/2005

We would like to thank Andy Reid for his accurate reporting on the affordable housing crisis.

Centex was the developer that first tried to buy Coral Lake, now we know what we would have been in for.

Developer tells mobile home residents to move or lose $1 million in aid

By Andy Reid
Staff Writer

May 6, 2005

Take a deal and move, or lose $1 million in relocation help, developers told mobile home park residents Thursday.

Centex Homes proposes to replace Meadowbrook Mobile Home Park with 610 townhomes on Drexel Road, south of Okeechobee Road.

Disabled, elderly and low-income mobile home park residents contend they will get priced out of Palm Beach County if they have to move. More than 100 Meadowbrook residents filled the Palm Beach County Zoning Commission meeting room Thursday to oppose another delay of a vote on the development proposal they have been fighting since October.

But moving remains the only option for residents who live in about 400 mobile homes at Meadowbrook, project representatives said Thursday. They said if county officials vote against the project, mobile home park owners will close the community anyway. Centex could then come back with new plans, minus a park the county asked for, said attorney Clifford Hertz, who represents Centex.

"If the county and residents don't want to work with us, we are going to have to seek other alternatives," Hertz said.

The Zoning Commission agreed and gave Centex a 90-day delay, 60 days more than initially proposed.

"They threatened us," said Rick Capri, president of the Meadowbrook homeowners association. "They said if you don't get out with what we offer, we are going to kick you out. ... There is no place to really go."

One reason Centex cited for needing a delay was that their relocation consultant could not attend Thursday's meeting.

Tell that to the Meadowbrook residents who missed work or the stay-at-home mothers who brought their children to the county center in West Palm Beach to show their opposition, resident Linda Kartell said.

The relocation help Centex offered along with potential state aid would not be enough to cover the costs to move and pay off mortgages some owe, Kartell said.

"The few thousand dollars they are talking about is not a bonus, it is a slap in the face," Kartell said. "We are hardworking people. Poor, working class. ... This is devastating to us."

About 150 of the town homes in Centex's 83-acre project near the Florida's Turnpike would be reserved for "affordable housing," priced in the $200,000 range, Hertz said.

Centex proposes providing $1 million to help with relocation costs. If county officials agree, Centex proposes the county distribute the money based on residents' needs, Hertz said.

Officials estimated Thursday the money could result in about $3,000 per mobile home in addition to the $3,000 to $6,000 that could come from state subsidies to relocate.

The county cannot mandate that Meadowbrook remain a mobile home park, Assistant County Attorney Bob Banks said.

Zoning Commissioner Allen Kaplin cast the only vote against the delay. But delaying a vote until August was worth the possibility of developers providing relocation help, Zoning Commissioner Peter Carney said.

"If there is a better deal out there, I would like to be able to flesh that out," Carney said.

Where to go remains the problem, residents said. Many Palm Beach County mobile home parks have age restrictions, are too costly or do not have room, Capri said.

Some Meadowbrook residents, anticipating moving expenses, put off making storm repairs last year, Kartell said. Another delay for the development proposal pushes a decision on the future of the mobile home park into the next hurricane season.

"The cost to our families ... is unjustifiable," Kartell said.

Andy Reid can be reached at abreid@sun-sentinel(.com) or 561-832-6598.

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