BRADENTON BEACH – Pines Trailer Park homeowners attended a Nov. 7 city commission meeting seeking answers about the continued existence of the 86-unit park following hurricane-related flooding.
HELENE DAMAGE ‘MAJOR’
On Sept. 27, storm surge from Hurricane Helene caused water intrusion into the mobile homes at the Pines Trailer Park. On Oct. 17, Building Official Darin Cushing said that FEMA guidelines related to water intrusion from flooding deem the properties as having major damage.
Federal, state and local regulations state if a home is damaged 50% or more of the market value of the structure, or if it is improved 50% or more of the value of the structure, then the entire structure must be brought to current floodplain compliance, which is an elevation to 12 feet.
On Oct. 29, fire code and setback regulations became part of the discussion. West Manatee Fire Rescue District (WMFR) Fire Marshall Rodney Kwiatkowski outlined fire safety and regulatory standards to be followed for all new mobile home installations at the Pines.
Regulations state that no portion of a mobile home, excluding the tongue, shall be located closer than 10 feet side-to-side, 8 feet end-to-side, or 6 feet end-to-end horizontally from any other mobile home or community building.
PUBLIC COMMENT
During a public comment segment of the meeting, several Pines residents and park owner Shawn Kaleta spoke to commissioners.
Kaleta, manager of Pines Park Investors LLC, was the first speaker.
“Obviously, we’ve been hit with a couple hurricanes. We’re all trying to dig out of the sand as a community and try to restore our homes, our businesses, our lives back to normal as quick as possible,” Kaleta said.
He said he has spoken to Pines residents.
“The units obviously took on water. There are fire separation issues, there’s mold, there’s structural stability, there’s elevation of the buildings, there’s all these questions,” he said. “I’ve made a commitment to the residents from our side to keep the park there whatever it can be inside the code. I think that’s a vital part of the community, having residents and having everybody in that community as it exists.”
Following Kaleta, Pines Trailer Park residents stepped up to the podium, seeking answers about the city’s final determination.
Brett Williams owns seven mobile homes at the Pines.
“I know you have legal stuff to go through, but if your intent is to say we don’t want trailers anymore, we want to replace them with new stuff, I get it,” Williams said. “I don’t want to put all the money out if we’re going to do that. I’d like to speed this up so we can move on. Right now everything is in limbo.”
Ryan Pfahler, who has lived there five years and owns two rental mobile homes there asked, “While we are fixing trailers can we be living there? How long to do we have to make improvements? Are we allowed to pull in a travel trailer in the meantime while we’re repairing or rebuilding? What happens if most of the trailers do not meet the 50% rule?”
Jim Entwistle purchased a mobile home at the Pines as an investment in April for $200,000 and has rental reservations there from January through April.
CITY’S INTENT
City Attorney Ricinda Perry addressed questions about the city’s intent.
“The intent is to save you, to save the community,” she said.” I went to Shawn and said what can you do to try to save this? Shawn asked if he could elevate the structures, and I said they’re not structurally sound. He said, ‘What else can I do?’ We could talk about a rezone, but the densities are tough to get there. Is there another product you can make that meets the definition of a mobile home park, install that and get to the densities and the setback? Possibly.”
“Shawn has asked us to explore that option – if the park can’t exist with the existing structures can he put another product in there at that density, that’s elevated as a replacement?”
Perry said those changes would require a hearing with Planning and Zoning, at least two commission meetings and would require a Planned Unit Development.
“It is our intent, our goal and our desire to keep that kind of community there, whatever that looks like,” Perry said.
CITY RESPONDS TO QUESTIONS
“You have FEMA policies, guidance and regulations. On top of that you have the Florida Building Code, the fire code, and they all have different pieces and roles in this entire situation,” Perry said. “One of the things that’s really important for the city is to come up with a consistent, uniform approach in administering the flood plain ordinance.”
The process applies to every structure in Bradenton Beach.
“After we work our way through that, that’s what gives you the decision about moving forward,” she said.
“You’re frustrated and you want quick answers. We understand that. I will tell you this – most communities when they’ve been hit by one disaster, not two, they adopt a moratorium and shut everything down,” Perry said.
Many homeowners have received letters of substantial damage based on initial assessments. Those will be followed by in-person inspections. The state is in the procurement stage of having 10 teams of two people each assist the city with those inspections.
Perry cited the city floodplain ordinance as it pertains to manufactured homes that are substantially damaged as a result of a flood.
“That’s 12 feet,” Perry said. “If we’re all being honest, none of these structures will make it to that height. Your engineering costs alone are probably going to exceed your 50% just to figure out if you can elevate it.”
Perry said that most of the Pines mobile homes are more than 50 years old.
“I have researched the life span of a mobile home and it is said 30-50 years max if they are well maintained and not in a marine environment,” she said.
“Engineering estimates are about $25,000 and I’ve heard everything from $115,000 to $150,000 to raise,” Perry said.
She said there have been meetings with city officials, Kaleta, Sam Negrin, Cushing and former city Building Official Steve Gilbert.
“Unless you do not have substantial damage, we don’t see a way to save it,” she said. “Once you elevate, you also have to come into compliance with the fire codes, meaning they have to have proper setbacks and fire rated walls for their own safety. So, you’ll have to come into compliance with that by repositioning the units somehow or shrinking it down to fit into the setbacks.”
She said units must be habitable for those who want to live in them. A travel trailer cannot be pulled in; they are not allowed.
If 50% of units are damaged does the park go away?
“That’s a private issue with your landowner, not a city issue,” Perry said.
