Relocation for residents at Destin Campground could be tough
DESTIN - By the time Destin Campground on Beach Drive closes, owner John Gronning says he hopes he’ll have found somewhere for at least a few of his tenants to live.
“I’ve talked to Hazel Light, who owns Forest Grove Mobile Home Park,” Gronning said, “and I’ve got a couple of big lots in Fort Walton Beach ... and a couple in Mary Esther.”
Destin City Council voted Jan. 7 to buy the five-acre lot for $4.4 million. The road, along with land to the west, will be used to build a road between Beach and Benning drives, with two acres possibly available for a “workforce housing” project.
About $1.3 million of the cost will come from a $2.2 million bond. The council voted to cover the cost with short-term financing, hoping to pay back the money with a state grant and a payment from whoever develops the housing.
Gronning and his partner, Carl Napoli, had hoped to swap the land for another site they could use as a campground, but the city wasn’t able to find a suitable spot.
Florida law says that when a park closes, mobile-home owners must be given six months to leave and can receive moving expenses from a state relocation fund fi nanced by payments from the park owners.
The Florida Mobile Home Relocation Trust Fund pays the homeowner’s cost of moving to a new park within 50 miles, up to a maximum of $3,000 for a singlesection home or $6,000 for multi section homes. Alternatively, owners can leave their home behind and accept a smaller payment.
Critics of the plan say the payments aren’t enough to cover the cost of moving, and there’s often nowhere to move to within 50 miles.
Gronning said he wanted to keep the campground open as long as possible and thought the contract shifted the burden of eviction to the city.
“I didn’t want to tell any of these people they had to move,” Gronning said. “Some of them have been there since Day One; they don’t have any place to go. I don’t want to be the one to tell them they have to leave.”
Gronning said that after further discussion, he’d accepted that he would be the one to tell them.
The contract won’t close until the end of the year, however, so Gronning said he still has several months before that happens.
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| The story leaves a lot of questions unanswered. First of all is this a mobile home park with at least 10 homes owned by residents falling under s723 or a camp ground? This determines what laws are to be followed. Second, why is the owner selling if he cares about his customers? If he is being forced to sell under eminent domain the law then requires fair market value be paid for mobile homes in a mobile home park. Then, what is the land zoned as? If it is zoned for trailers or mobile homes and must be rezoned the city must make a determination under s723 083 that there is adequate and suitable housing affordable and available to the mobile home owners within the range of their zoning authority according the the opinion of Jim Smith Florida Attorney General and several follow up AG opinions.
Florida AG opinions and the Wieker Enterprises vs St Pete case that proves it applies at corallakemhp dot com with other resources for mobile home owners in closing parks. |
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| BobP - Jan 29, 2008 01:45:17 AM | Remove Comment |