Between 2005 and 2007 an estimated 1,200 Treasure Coast residents were displaced when six mobile home parks were shut down to make way for upscale condominiums and other projects.

Now, former renters can drive by the old parks — places they lived for years in some cases — and see acres of concrete pads basking in the sun. There’s no sign of the more lucrative housing that forced the residents from their homes.

Only one of those six projects is moving forward in any major way.

On Thursday, the developer of Sunset Ridge, formerly Bloomfield Meadows Mobile Home Park in Hobe Sound, will ask the Martin County Local Planning Agency for a change in land-use designation to allow construction of condominiums.

Local governments already are trying to nudge property owners toward developing affordable housing or protect park residents.

In Indian River County, where there are tough regulations governing the conversion of mobile home parks to other land uses, the owners of Shady Rest Mobile Home Park are seeking annexation into Sebastian, where they would be allowed to convert the park to riverfront commercial zoning.

Bob Keating, Indian River County development director, said his county was spared the problems of owners closing mobile home parks two years ago.

“We changed the comprehensive land-use plan so that anyone who wanted to close down a mobile home park and seek new zoning would have to go through the entire process of seeking an amendment to the comprehensive plan,” Keating said. “That process gave a lot of discretionary power to the (county) commissioners and provided more protection to the mobile home park residents.” But even though efforts to replace mobile homes have stalled because of the stumbling economy, some experts say current mobile home residents still could face future eviction.

Thomas Freeman now lives in a mobile home park on the south side of Hobe Sound.

But every now and then, Freeman passes by the old Bloomfield Meadows on U.S. 1 in Hobe Sound, where he lived until he was evicted in 2007. Freeman was a long time resident and park leader.

He said he has good and bad memories of the park, but his life is better than before the eviction.

Freeman said the eviction was as a “terrible thing.” He said the developer did next to nothing for the tenants, at least three of whom died shortly after moving to new parks in Stuart.

“The stress was just too much for them,” Freeman said.

“The only people who cared about us was the county,” Freeman said. “They got us FEMA trailers. I live in one now. I fixed it up and it is fine.”

Freeman said he feels comfortable in this new mobile home park.

But at least one planner has doubts about how secure mobile home renters should be in these times.

“The downturn in the economy is just a temporary thing,” said Jamie Ross, affordable housing director for Tallahassee-based, 1000 Friends of Florida, a nonprofit agency studying Florida’s environment, economy and culture. “(The economy) will rebound and conversions will continue. That means we have to make sure that affordable housing is protected. Right now, mobile home residents are not in any way safe from rezoning and eviction.”

Affordable housing for low-income residents, which the older mobile home parks provided, is the key issue planners, elected officials and property owners are trying to resolve.

Legislators thought they were protecting affordable housing when they passed a law in 2007 that mandates how and when mobile home lands can be converted to higher density or other uses. But Ross said the law has not accomplished its purpose.

“Many local governments have not followed the statute, saying that it is ‘vague’ and then interpreting it to favor land owners,” Ross said.

Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council Director Mike Busha said some owners can probably continue to pay the bank and hold the now empty land until the economy rebounds. But others might be facing foreclosure and instead decide to convert back to manufactured housing.

“These mobile home parks usually have nice road nets, which would lend themselves to small communities of affordable housing,” said Busha. “We may see them coming back as smaller, affordable housing communities, not big condos or townhouses. Maybe something like the ‘Katrina Cottages,’ which were small, manufactured homes built after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. They are small, comfortable and affordable.”

“Martin County will not lose any affordable housing units when property is converted from mobile homes to condos, said Joe Banfi, principle planner in the county growth management department.

“Our rules require that a landowner replace mobile homes with affordable housing equal in number to the units being displaced,” Banfi said. “It was the county’s intention to protect affordable housing.”

Parks by county

Indian River: 49

St. Lucie: 48

Martin: 54

Source: Florida Manufactured Homes Association

Parks closed since 2005

Angle In, Hobe Sound

Bloomfield Meadows, Hobe Sound

Pitchford Rv and Mobile Home Park, Jensen Beach

Rio Village, Rio

Causeway Mobile Home Park, Fort Pierce

Pleasure Cove Mobile Home Park, Fort Pierce

Plantation Manor Mobile Home Park, Fort Pierce

Parks where renters became owners

Salerno Trailer Park, Port Salerno

Ocean Breeze Park, Jensen Beach

Midway Estates Mobile Home Park, Fort Pierce

Tropical Isles Mobile Home Park, Fort Pierce

Former parks in conversion planning

Bloomfield Meadows, now Sunset Ridge

Pitchford’s. Jensen Beach

By Joe Crankshaw, TCPalm.com

This entry was posted on Monday, August 3rd, 2009 at 11:43 am and is filed under Economy, Hobe Sound, Treasure Coast business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.