BRADENTON BEACH – The attorney for the owners of the parking lot at the Pines Trailer Park said residents who pay their rent may continue to use the lot for free while the city commission considers the owners’ request to charge for parking at the lot.
Attorney Stephen Thompson, representing the property owners, including developer Shawn Kaleta, made the concession during a special commission meeting on May 1 in which commissioners directed the building official to review regulations as it pertains to the parking lot at 205 First St. N.
When lot owners converted the lot to paid parking last December, many Pines Trailer Park residents lost their parking spaces.
“I’ve lived in Pines for 36 years,” Mary Mox said. “I’m speaking today for our many senior residents who feel devastated by what’s happening with our only parking lot. Our only safe place to park as seniors and disabled residents was taken from us. For senior residents this isn’t just an inconvenience, it’s a hardship.”
“Based on our review of this we could not find any master plan showing the parking lot as a part of the Pines Trailer Park,” City planner Luis Serna reported on May 1. However, “It’s commonly understood that the parking lot has been used for the Pines Trailer Park.”
He reported that the site has been used for parking since at least the 1980s and has been under common ownership of the Pines Trailer Park since at least the 1930s.
“Our determination is this parking lot is a legal non-conforming use in the C-1 zoning district, meaning it can remain as currently used but any change in use would require it to come under compliance with the C-1 zoning district,” he said.
He said primary use as a standalone parking lot is specifically prohibited in the C-1 district.
“As a legal non-conforming use, the parking lot may remain as an accessory use for the Pines Trailer Park,” Serna said. “Any proposal to convert all or a portion of the parking lot for public parking would result in the loss of its non-conforming status and would not be permitted. Any other use of the property must comply with the standards and requirements of the C-1 zoning district.”
Serna said because of the longtime use of the property as an accessory to the Pines Trailer Park, he would recommend that if the parking lot is developed, the applicant provide information on the parking requirements of the Pines Trailer Park.
“The Land Development Code (M-1 zoning) requires a minimum of one parking space per mobile home in the Pines Trailer Park,” Serna said.
Thompson, representing parking lot owners, questioned the purpose of the meeting.
“The agenda talks about a discussion but there really hasn’t been any due process in regard to this,” Thompson said. “Is this a code enforcement issue? A compliance issue? We have never been notified that there’s an issue in regard to the parking being either non-conforming or out of compliance.”
Thompson said he did not think the commission had legal authority to make a decision on the parking lot at the May 1 meeting.
“I’ve not even seen a copy of the staff report. It would be ridiculous to say you’re going to make a decision when the owner has never even seen any of the reports,” Thompson said. “We never had an opportunity to make any presentation to your zoning board. To bypass your procedures and come directly to the city commission I really think is a misapplication of your ordinance and law and we couldn’t accept that.”
Mayor John Chappie said the purpose of the meeting is to gather background information and to have the city planner tell the commission what is and what is not allowed to happen on the property.
“We are not trying to shortcut this. That is why this has been going on for several meetings,” Chappie said. “The report was available. It was presented seven days in advance of this meeting. Anybody could have come in here and looked at it and I’m not sure why you did not do it.”
Chappie said if the city decided to take action on May 1, it would be in the form of direction to city staff.
“As the planner indicated, this parking area is not part of Pines Park. It has never been part of Pines Park, and was never approved as parking for the Pines Park,” Thompson said. “It has been made available by the owners of the park, but it was never a right by the tenants to have it. There is no legal requirement for the owners of this property to make it available to the tenants.”
Thompson said that former city Building Official Darin Cushing told parking lot owners to apply for a temporary use permit for the parking lot.
“My client prepared a temporary use permit and before it was applied, Darin Cushing called Mr. Kaleta (property owner Shawn Kaleta) and said there’s no need to get a temporary use permit because this was a permitted use,” Thompson said. “That’s why we’re a little surprised now that the city is looking to take away this vested right that we had established and your building official recognized.”
Thompson said if the city is going to close down the parking lot, which would impose a significant financial loss to the owners, they would have no alternative but to file a lawsuit.
Chappie read an email from Cushing that was sent to city commissioners. Cushing’s email reads in part: “I am in receipt of the City Commission Agenda for the upcoming Special City Commission Meeting on May 1, 2025. In the packet there is a letter from Stephen Thompson, Attorney for Kaleta, et. al., dated April 23, 2025, in which Mr. Thompson alleges that I was consulted with, concerning the use of the parking lot for the Pines, at 205 First St. N., immediately after Pines Park Investors purchased the property.
“First, the sale of the Pines took place on 08/25/23, and I did not take over as Building Official until late December of 2023. Second, I had no conversations with anyone about that parking lot until Mr. Kaleta, over a weekend, converted it to a Paid Parking Lot. Up until that point, I did not even know that the lot was associated with the Pines, or even who owned it. He converted this lot to Paid Parking in close proximity to the time that he turned a half dozen of his other vacant properties into Paid Parking Lots, all without any permission or permits from the City.
“Once we told Mr. Kaleta and his associates that they would need to apply for Temporary Use Permits for all of the lots, he included an application for the Pines lot with several others. He applied for some of them to be heard at one Commission Meeting, and the remaining ones at the next meeting.
“Several days before the Pines lot was to come before Commission, I was told by (City Attorney) Ricinda Perry, John Chappie, and (Police Chief) John Cosby that since this lot was always a parking lot, that he did not need any special permission to make it a Paid Parking lot. I was also told that they were striking it from the agenda.
“I contested this verbally and vehemently, to each of these individuals, but was overturned. There are no records of any of these conversations, but I would be willing to attest to it in a Court of Law.”
Owners’ position, concession for Pines
“At the last meeting, there was concern that we were taking away the parking from tenants,” Thompson said. “In talking to Mr. Kaleta, we want to roll back and allow the tenants to once again park on that lot. Just like they have done for years. Not that it’s a requirement or a legal obligation for us to do it, but I think that may bring a resolution to this issue.”
Negrin spoke on behalf of Pines owners.
“In late September and early October 2024 we were hit by the two storms,” Negrin said. “Our intention from the start has always been to restore Pines Park and to maintain it as a trailer park for years to come.”
He said 80% of residents stopped paying rent following the storms.
“We believe this delinquency was due to the city’s initial position stating that everything that got wet must go,” Negrin said. “About 20% of residents right off the bat were looking to relinquish their titles. Only 40% of residents said they were willing to rebuild, leaving us with a 60% vacancy rate. We could not possibly operate a trailer park on those levels.”
Negrin said the park ownership needs the revenue from the paid parking lot to remain afloat.
“We realized there are some paying residents still residing in the park prior to its closure and they are in need of parking. We are now providing parking to those residents in the parking lot across from Pines Park free of charge,” Negrin said.
City attorney response, commission determination
“You are dealing with two private entities more or less who are going back and forth on what their rights and entitlements are,” City Attorney Ricinda Perry said. “No one has given forward any evidence of any city approved land use documents about this particular lot, so we do not have any evidence. In my legal opinion you are hearing hearsay.”
Perry said there is nothing in the rental agreement, park prospectus or deed showing an obligation to hold that parking lot for Pines Park.
“All what we have today is a survey, but the survey did not state anything about what obligations were on the property owner,” she said.
“This commission is of the opinion based on the testimony of your planner that the legal non-conforming use was residential in nature. The attorney for the property owner stated the parking facility has been used to provide parking for the tenants within Pines Mobile Home Park and provided paid parking for others,” Perry said.” I have nothing that shows historical paid parking.”
She said there is nothing that was produced that shows the parking as part of Pines rental agreements.
“There is nothing in the prospectus, it has two different zoning classifications. The Jacksons owned it in separate entities and that indicates to me there may have been a different mindset. It’s held entirely separate. If I had something written to show what those uses were, I could take the hearsay that I heard and give that the weight necessary to make a competent substantial finding, but to me it’s ‘he said, she said.’ ”
Perry said, based on a complaint that was raised to the city about parking activities at the parking lot, she believes the commission is within its authority to ask the building official to determine whether or not further action or investigation is necessary.
“I believe the only option today is to designate your building official to review whether or not it needs to go through a code enforcement proceeding for parking activities that are taking place on that lot. And you could ask for the building official to determine whether or not there’s adequate parking for Pines Trailer Park which is zoned M-1.”
Commissioners reached a consensus to not make any findings as to whether or not there was a common element at the parking lot, then unanimously voted to have the building official, Bill Palmer, review the issue.
