Update (9.27.08)- An action for
declaratory and injunctive relief was filed on behalf of residents
against the City of Hallandale Beach. The Trial Court granted
a summary judgment to the City. The case is now on appeal. At a
hearing on 9.25.08, the Trial Court entered a stay of any
termination of tenancy actions involving the specific Plaintiffs in
the case, until the end of the appeal. The matter is currently
before the Fourth District Court of Appeal, which sits in West Palm
Beach, Florida.
Lawsuit filed
Opposing Closure of Tower Mobile Home Park
11.30.07-Fifteen residents of the Tower
Mobile Home and R.V. Park in the City of
Hallandale Beach have instituted a lawsuit
seeking injunctive and declaratory relief
against the City of Hallandale Beach to keep
their homes.
The lawsuit,
filed on November 30, was filed in Broward
County Circuit Court.
The legal
action was necessary to oppose notices of
termination of tenancies sent by the City to
Tower tenants on October 5, 2007.
Under state
law, in order to contest the City's actions,
residents served with the notice have 90
days in which to seek judicial or
administrative relief in order to contest
Hallandale Beach's plans to eliminate their
homes and expand adjacent sports facility,
which is under utilized. The lawsuit
was filed to protect the rights of the
residents.
No immediate
hearings are scheduled on the matter, since
the City must first be served with the
lawsuit.
Copies of the
lawsuit may be requested
here.
 Seed Newsvine
Commentary
Posted 11/25/07 @5:14 p.m.
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Residents of Tower
Mobile Home Park meet on Friday, November 30 to discuss the
filing of a lawsuit for injunctive and declaratory relief
against the City of Hallandale Beach to stop the closure of
their neighborhood.
In Hallandale
Beach...A Clash Between Open Space and
Affordable Housing
Commentary by
Mitchell Chester
 Usually
it is developers who seek to purchase mobile
home parks, change the designated land use,
displace residents and build commercial or
residential properties. The exception is the
City of Hallandale Beach, in Broward County,
Florida. The city, after purchasing the
Tower Mobile Home and R.V. Park this summer,
is currently forcing its own residents out
of their homes, which sit on approximately
4.4 acres of land, a stones throw from the
Hallandale Municipal Complex and across US 1
from the Gulfstream race track. The purpose?
To expand a local underused sports facility,
Peter Bluesten Park, which is immediately
adjacent to the Tower grounds.
Up to
eighty five residents are
affected. Some live on low incomes.
Others are disabled. Many are retirees.
Still others are workforce
residents. Some use machines to breathe.
Others ambulate by walker. All have
been told to get out. Veterans who live
on the property are included. The human
toll on those about to be displaced is
overwhelming. Stress and anticipation is
high as the Tower population ponders
its next move. Those affected
cannot relocate their older mobile
homes, as other parks decline to accept
models which are too old and not
"windstorm rated."
Residents
are being offered assistance to move, which,
in practical terms, is of little value and
does not squarely address the problems
caused by the park acquisition. The City has
offered $5,000 to relocate Tower's
population and given them a year to vacate.
However, if they want the full $5,000, they
must vacate the park well before the full
year is up. Some Tower residents have been
told they have until December 1 to decide to
leave in order to receive the full amount.
Others have heard rumors that the deadline
is March 1, 2008. Whatever the deadline is,
the amount offered may be reduced by $500 per
month for those who stay longer while
searching for solutions.
Try moving
to an apartment in Broward County with
meager resources. Tower is a "55 and older
park." Many Tower residents are on fixed
incomes, based upon social security and
disability payments. Those who rely on small
savings or retirement funds cannot afford
the average county rent for a one bedroom
apartment of $900 to $1100 a month, even
if they can find another 55 and older
community. Some residents pay only $300-$500
monthly to rent their lot at Tower. Using
the offered $5,000 will get a displacee into
an apartment for only a few months,
considering the usual requirement of payment
of first and last month rents as well as
security deposits. Simply put, the City's
financial aid package is insufficient,
unjust and not realistic.
 Hallandale
Beach officials will respond by stating they
are offering more to residents than is
mandated by Chapter 723 of the Florida
Statutes. Under State law, owners of
single-wide mobile homes are entitled to
relocation expenses of $3,000. If they
cannot move their unit to another park, they
can receive $1,375 and walk away, often to
see their unit bulldozed. But
where to go? In case it has not been noticed,
there is already an affordable housing
crisis in Broward County, and across the
nation. Thanks to the City of Hallandale
Beach, it is about to get a bit worse.
Move to a
studio apartment? The Miami Herald
reported on August 15 the average rent for a
studio apartment in Broward is $787. That's
an option for some of these fixed income
residents...if one forgets about the
requirements of purchasing groceries,
eating and purchasing prescriptions.
Hallandale has hired a management firm, the
Urban Group, to help with Tower resident
relocation. In the past week, several Tower
inhabitants told this writer they have
received only a package of materials from
the property manager showing other mobile
home park locations and other homes which
can be rented. Some have had
interviews with representatives of the Urban
Group, but none are satisfied that talking
is enough. Keep in mind...some of those
being displaced are owners of their
homes...not renters.
The City
Commission agreed to borrow $25 million from
the Florida Municipal Council, according to
the Miami Herald on August 3, 2007.
With that money, the municipality purchased
the Tower Park for $10 million. Some of the
money provided to the City is to create open
space. Hallandale's decision: To expand Peter
Bluesten park but eliminate low cost housing. One wonders...would Mr. Bluesten think about all this?
There is no
justification for creating a larger park
when residents who cannot afford to move
elsewhere are being made into economic
refugees by governmental action. It is
beyond rational understanding that residents
are being told to find other accommodations
in order to expand a sports park that sits
empty most of the time. During a recent
weekend, the park was observed by this
writer to be used by just a few people.
Among other
things, this is a clash between a desire for
open space and human rights. With thousands
of mobile home lots statewide being converted to other
uses in recent years and considering the
high cost of living in an area with few
options for new manufactured home sites,
this is a debate which need not take place.
We must protect our neighbors from
unjustified displacement in these troubled
economic times.
This is not
the first time mobile home parks have been
closed in Hallandale Beach. According to the
Herald, two trailer parks were
closed in the past two years to make way for
development. About 140 residents were sent
out of their homes. History should not be
allowed to repeat itself.
Some Tower
residents vow to stay to the end. They have
no choice. For them, the reality of being
homeless is approaching. It does not matter
that they pay taxes and maintain their
properties. It does not matter they have a
right to participate in our society. By one
estimate, about fifty percent of the
residents at Tower migrate from Canada part
of the year. They too pay their taxes to the
local economy and contribute to our society.
Broward County and Hallandale have welcome
signs for our friends from the north.
While elderly, they were invited to live in
the City which is now tossing them aside.
Sure, there
are a few who live at Tower who can make
other financial arrangements and move on.
But they are in the minority. They like
their peaceful residential community, and
seek to help their less fortunate
neighbors. The majority who live at Tower
have their own ownership rights. Chapter 723
fails them, as it does all those affected by
mobile home displacement. The laws were
written for different times, in a different
economy. There is a continuing, and
increasingly vocal, call for Tallahassee to
revise state laws to address the problem.
The legislative process, however, will take
years and not provide relief for
those facing the loss of their homes at
Tower.
Tower's
residents deserve better from their
governments, at all levels. Hallandale Beach
Mayor Joy Cooper is right, lives are being
"uprooted." Yet the City Commission voted
unanimously to close Tower. While
some City officials have told the media they
don't like what is happening, nothing
meaningful is being done to correct Tower's
displacement crisis. After protesting the
park's closure, residents were told their
rents would be reduced during the closing
process. As of November 25, reductions have
not materialized. To this point, the only
action being taken is to force displacement
and wipe Tower off the map.
On August 9,
2007, Mayor Cooper wrote in the South
Florida Sun-Times, "We also would
provide the necessary funding to ensure the
tenants were relocated or found suitable
housing." We are waiting...and we wonder
what the definition of "suitable" is. The
City can start providing solutions with a stay of its decision
to close the park and follow up by imposing
a moratorium on mobile home displacement. It
should keep Tower open. Period. It
can follow the example of the Town of Davie
which has imposed such a stay on evicting
residents until solutions can be found. As a
result of Davie's foresight and its
declaration of a workforce housing crisis, a
Task Force is about to release
recommendations and strategies which can be
a model for Hallandale and the rest of the
nation.
 Those
in charge at the Hallandale Beach City Hall
need to take a step back and study not only
what they are doing, but how to fix this
embarrassing...and inequitable...mess.
If all sides work together, meaningful
solutions are achievable.
If you are
outraged by the decision to close Tower, let
us know. E-mail us by clicking
here.
Seed Newsvine
Commentary
Posted 11/25/07 @5:14 p.m.
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Threatened
Tower Mobile Home Park in Hallandale Beach , Broward
County, Florida. The park lies just east of an underused
recreational park the City seeks to expand by
eliminating mobile home locations.
The City's
action, already underway, will eliminate homes belonging
to elderly, disabled and workforce housing residents.
Some members of the community are veterans.
Residents are fearful of losing their homes and have no
viable options to relocate.
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