Sun-Sentinel 08/27/2008

We would like to thank Susannah Bryan for this breaking story regarding the Palma Nova Mobile Home Park closing.

Mobile Home Park Closing

By Susannah Bryan

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

August 27, 2008

DAVIE

One by one, the eviction notices arrived, spreading fear through one of Davie's largest mobile home parks.

Palma Nova resident Patricia Hull, a 72-year-old raising three grandchildren, opened her letter Tuesday afternoon. Hull and her neighbors, many on fixed incomes, have until Feb. 28 to move.

"I'm going to cry in about a minute," said Hull, who settled into the 940-unit park southeast of Davie Road and Interstate 595 after losing her home in Plantation four years ago. "We have no place to go."

The 20-acre mobile home park is owned by developer Austin Forman, one of Broward County's most politically influential businessmen. Forman could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Mayor Tom Truex said Forman has not shared his plans for the property. But Palma Nova lies in the town's Regional Activity Center — 2,200 acres targeted for redevelopment.

In July, Councilman Bryan Caletka told nervous residents that Forman told him he planned to keep the park open at least another 20 years.

"It is sooner than a lot of people thought," Truex said of the park's closing. "The timing would never really be good if you live in that park."

Under a town law passed in May, owners who close their parks must provide residents with a list of affordable homes within a 5-mile area.

Town officials said they could not legally require park owners to offer cash to displaced residents because it would trump state law. The state pays residents displaced from their mobile homes $1,375 for a singlewide and $2,750 for a doublewide. Residents who move their mobile homes can collect $3,000 to $6,000.

Vanessa Camacho, 35, shares a mobile home with her husband and 4-year-old daughter. They will most likely be forced to walk away from their $25,000 investment.

"I don't know what we can do," Camacho said. "This is our home."

Hull spent her life savings on her mobile home and pays $505 in lot rent each month. She relies on Social Security payments and part-time work at a school cafeteria. She took custody of her grandchildren — Sierra, 15; Brandon, 12; and Tyler, 10 — after their parents wound up in jail in Ohio.

"I don't know how a person can live with themselves doing this to people," she said of her pending eviction. "I have no idea what we're going to do."

Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sun-sentinel.com or 954-385-7929.

Copyright © 2008, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Visit Sun-Sentinel.com