DAVIE, FL - A huge question hangs over the town's ambitious plan to cure its own affordable housing crisis and help mobile home residents displaced by redevelopment: Who pays? Not the town. "We'd go bankrupt," Mayor Town Truex said. Not the people who live in the mobile homes. They can barely afford to pay the rent, many say, much less come up with money to move.
That leaves private developers. But if the town puts the burden on them, some warn that many developers won't build in Davie. With a vote on the first affordable housing ordinance less than two weeks away, town officials are struggling to determine the fairest and, legally speaking, best road to take. A final vote is expected in May.
Finding affordable housing is a problem in South Florida, as wages for many workers have not kept pace with increases in rent and property values. The housing shortage is particularly dire in Davie, where one in four residents, an estimated 23,000 people, live in the town's 31 mobile home parks. Of those parks, only eight are resident-owned. Residents in the remaining 23 parks rent the land under their homes, making them vulnerable to redevelopment.
On April 16, town officials will take their first vote on a proposed ordinance that would require developers to set aside 20 percent of developments with 10 or more units for affordable housing. In return, Davie would give developers a density bonus permitting them to build more units than allowed by current zoning. Builders who opt out of the 20 percent set-aside would pay into a trust fund that would be used to build affordable housing. The town's elected leaders also will discuss another issue: Who should pay to relocate residents forced to find new homes when their mobile home parks close for redevelopment.
Town Attorney John Rayson said he plans to propose an ordinance April 16 that would not require park owners to pay for the relocation of displaced residents. He said the state already requires park owners to pay into Florida's Mobile Home Relocation Trust Fund, which pays residents $1,375 for a single-wide and $2,750 for a double-wide. "I'm not looking to end up in court," Rayson said of his attempt to strike a fair balance between the rights of property owners and mobile home residents.
Rayson fears the town will be sued if it forces property owners to pay $8,400 for each mobile home resident displaced by redevelopment — a proposal backed by Shirley Taylor-Prakelt, the town's housing director. The two have clashed bitterly over her proposal, which Rayson excluded from the town's proposed ordinance over constitutional concerns.
Others fear the town won't go far enough in protecting residents who most need affordable housing. That includes Frank Serra, a resident of the Kings Manor mobile home park and head of the town's mobile home task force. "The park owner has to pay something," Serra said. "The only issue that we agree to disagree on is the dollar amount on the exit plan and who pays. Rayson said the park owner should not be burdened."
Town Council members declared an affordable housing crisis in December 2006. Two months later, they approved a one-year moratorium on rezoning mobile home parks, later extending it to May 21. Council members have said they want at least one affordable housing ordinance on the books before the moratorium ends.
Some developers and park owners have warned the town not to solve its affordable housing crisis "on the backs" of property owners. "You're going to stunt development in Davie," said Paul Figg, an attorney who represents Palma Nova park owner Austin Forman. Palma Nova, at 3021 SW 61st Ave., is one of the biggest mobile home parks in Davie, with 940 units. "The community as a whole needs to pay for it, not individual property owners,"
Source: Sun-Sentinel