Sun-Sentinel 11/26/04

We would like to thank Daniella Aird for her accurate reporting on Coral Lake.

-------------------- Mobile home park faces closure --------------------
By Daniella Aird
Staff Writer

November 26, 2004

Coconut Creek * Brett White recently planted impatiens along his driveway. Tracey McCall watched her four kids play in the front yard. Jamie Popowcer waved to neighbors as they drove past her home.

But these residents -- owners of mobile homes -- cannot stop developers from erasing their neighborhood. City officials are considering a proposal to rezone the 29-acre property known as Coral Lake to make way for a new development.

If the park shuts down, Coral Lake residents will have to uproot their lives and decide where to move next. Some fear they'll have to leave their homes behind because they are too old to be moved.

Coral Lake could become another casualty in the demise of mobile home parks across the state. Hundreds of parks in Florida have closed in the past decade, said Louis St. Laurent, a Coral Springs attorney who represents mobile-home owners. He does not represent residents in Coral Lake.

"These aren't little cracker jack boxes that you can hook up to the back of an SUV," said White, 37, a mechanic. "These are people's homes, and some of them are pretty elaborate. This is dehumanizing, really."

Wood Partners, a development company, has a contract to buy the land and build 244 townhomes and 56 condominiums on the site at Wiles and Lyons Road.

The city's planning and zoning board will consider the proposal at its meeting Dec. 8. If the zoning change is approved, about 220 families will receive eviction notices in February giving them six months to relocate, but they do receive compensation under state law. The board reviewed the developer's request at a recent meeting, where about 200 residents jammed City Hall to oppose the project. Officials tabled the proposal that night.

"We have to figure out some way to prevent this from happening," said Popowcer, 40, who owns a home inspection business with her husband, James Chafe. "Some people are saying this is a done deal, but we have to stall this."

Responding to residents' concerns, the Division of Motor Vehicles this week revised an advisory that restricts the relocation of homes built before 1994 because they don't meet current safety standards. The agency exempted mobile-home owners evicted from their property because of rezoning. Coral Lake residents could move their homes to another park in the county.

The DMV relaxed its rules because land-use changes are forcing so many residents to relocate, said Dwight Davis, chief of the Bureau of Mobile Home and Recreation Vehicle Construction in Tallahassee.

Popowcer said even if she's allowed to relocate in Broward County, it's still a tough move. She said she's already checked other parks in the area and they don't readily accept displaced mobile-home owners.

"For most of us, there isn't a better place to go," said Popowcer, who moved to Coral Lake in March. "Other parks don't have the space or they only accept newer homes. Some of them are for residents over 55, and we don't qualify for that either."

Robert Perkis, 54, said mobile home residents face a dilemma because they own their units but rent the land. When a park owner sells, residents risk losing their investment.

"Most of the units here cost between $20,000 and $30,000," he said. "What the heck are we supposed to do? Walk away?"

City Manager John Kelly said city officials will listen to residents' concerns before making a decision, but the city will also consider the property's potential profit.

"We're taking a realistic view on this," he said. "The market place will dictate what's going to happen. Developers are seeing mobile home parks as a good investment."

In South Florida, mobile home parks are rapidly disappearing as developers make use of prime properties. In the past two years, several parks have been sold, including Trailer Haven in Wilton Manors, Thunderbird Mobile Home Park in Dania Beach and Oak Grove Mobile Home Park in Hollywood.

"There's no land left [to build] but mobile home parks," said St. Laurent. "If you replace 150 mobile homes with 500 townhomes, look at the profit for the developer. But it destroys a whole way of living."

Don Hazelton, president of the Federation of Manufactured Home Owners of Florida, said mobile home parks are partly what drew people to the state after World War II.

He said many veterans moved to Florida for mobile home living, their units nestled among mangroves. The communities provided affordable housing for working-class residents.

But the land has now "tripled and quadrupled" in value, he said.

Laurent said as more parks sell, affordable housing goes.

"It's an entire housing industry that is being affected," he said. "Cities are anxious to rezone the land to increase their tax base, but they are eliminating affordable housing. It's not a fair way to handle people."

Daniella Aird can be reached at daird@sun-sentinel.com or 954-572-2024.

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