BRADENTON BEACH – Preliminary data from hurricane damage assessments may offer some hope to mobile homeowners at the Pines Trailer Park and Sandpiper Resort Co-op.
At a Dec. 4 emergency city commission meeting, Commissioner Deborah Scaccianoce asked Building Official Darin Cushing if inspectors had completed damage assessments at the mobile home parks.
“The trailer parks I can tell you are probably much better off than a lot of people were worried about,” Cushing said. “There are, I would say, only maybe three or four at the Pines that are above and beyond the 50%, the rest are below. The Sandpiper, same deal, maybe three or four there and one of them is already in the process of permitting a new elevated trailer there.”
The 86 mobile homes at the waterfront Pines Trailer Park had varying levels of water intrusion during the storm surge from Hurricane Helene in September.
At an Oct. 17 city commission meeting, mobile homeowners were told that FEMA guidelines related to hurricane flooding triggered a city floodplain ordinance requiring elevation of the mobile homes if the cost to repair those structures to their pre-storm state exceeded 50% of their market value.
Cushing, former Building Official Steve Gilbert and a team of 20 damage inspectors provided by the state assessed hurricane-damaged properties city-wide.
“People have to understand we’re following the process,” Cushing said. “We have to follow federal guidelines and stay in compliance with our Community Rating System and NFIP (National Flood Insurance Program) guidelines.”
Following the Dec. 4 meeting, Cushing told The Sun, “Preliminary data coming back from the inspectors looks like most of the Pines and most of Sandpiper parks are going to be in OK shape. They’re going to be able to keep them as they are.”
Cushing said some homeowners will need permits to do some of the repair work.
“That will chip away at some of their 50% looking forward, but it’s a year period, they could do work on it and keep it under 50% for the next year and then after that year’s over they can do more,” Cushing said.
Pines homeowner Ryan Pfahler owns three units at the mobile home park. He resides in one and rents the others.
“I’m not surprised at all,” he said on Dec. 5. “The appraisals have come in fairly high, and we expected most of the trailers would come in under the 50% rule.”
Pfahler said he is reluctant to spend money on appraisals or repairs without a commitment from the ownership that the park will remain in place for at least several years.
“I’m still waiting for answers from the LLC,” Pfahler said. “I don’t want to spend any money on them unless I can live in it and rent them immediately.”
Pfaher said others in the park have told him they are also hesitant to spend money to repair their mobile homes.
“I am not alone in my opinion,” he said. “Most of the people in the park don’t want to put another dime in without a guarantee.”
A representative for park owner Pines Park Investors LLC who did not wish to be named said the LLC is still waiting for official information from the city.
At a Nov. 7 city commission meeting, Shawn Kaleta, one of the park owners, 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.”
