Agenda 04/08/2014 Item # 10A4/8/2014 10.A.
BrockMarvJo
From: HillerGeorgia
;ent: 1ll�ednesday, Apr'! 02, 2014 7:31 AM
To: OchsLeo
Cc: CasalanguidaNick; KlatzkowJeff
Subject: Addition to this week's agenda - NDN article
Leo:
Please add the following to the April 8 agenda:
Correction of Naples Daily News article titled "Collier County to revive mobile home zoning
program" dated March 25, 2014
Please have Mike S. upload the article as back up.
With thanks,
Commissioner Georgia Hiller
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Collier County to revive mobile home zoning program : Naples Daily News n,. ~_ ' _"
4/8/2014 10.A.
ropi . CQM Prin,,cr-friundly
new story
Read more at aplesews.com
Collier County to revive mobile home zoning
program
By GREG STANLEY
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Collier commissioners instructed staff Tuesday to bring back a long- abandoned zoning
relaxation program - favored by Immokalee trailer park owners - that supporters say
would encourage landlords to eventually bring properties up to modem standards.
Critics say the measure could legitimize Immokalee slums by enabling landlords to
sidestep the real issue of deplorable living conditions for Collier County's working poor.
The stated goal of the flexible zoning compliance program is to get Immokalee
landlords to replace old, small, decrepit trailers.
But exactly how it would do that isn't yet clear and the program had mixed results when
the county last tried it from 2001 to 2003.
The process is just starting, said Mike Bosi, Collier director of planning.
Immokalee has more than 50 trailer parks that would not meet county zoning
standards if built today, Bosi said.
Some owners have set up trailers on sites that aren't zoned for multi - family housing;
others stack trailers without permits together on lots that don't meet minimum
landscaping requirements for residential property.
If the landlords want to replace a trailer or do any work that requires a permit, the
properties must be brought up to today's zoning standards under current law.
"They can't replace, as it is, without some sort of zoning conformity," Bosi said. "This
program would allow them to comply with the zoning, which would allow them to
replace the physical units."
Commissioners voted 3 -2 Tuesday for the county to develop the program. It would
allow regulators to defray certain costs, waive certain fees and grant zoning
compliance as long as the trailer park owners submit a plan that shows how they would
get the properties up to code by 2020.
But once landlords get the carrot of zoning compliance, the county will lose its biggest
stick to eliminate substandard housing and slums, said Commissioner Fred Coyle, who
voted against it.
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Collier County to revive mobile home zoning program: Naples Daily News n - -- n -"
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"If we let the owners get their properties to be permanently zoned and grandfathered
in, then they can keep doing what they're doing forever," Coyle said.
The program is not intended to address safety issues, conditions of the mobile homes
or how many people may be living inside them. It merely aims to be an avenue for
zoning compliance, Bosi said.
Supporters of the program say safety and living conditions aren't related to easing
rules for trailer park owners who want to replace some units.
But Coyle, who dissented with Commissioner Donna Fiala, said the issues cannot be
separated and the landlords have little reason to upgrade the trailers.
"The people who own the majority of the housing out there are charging people huge
sums of money and cramming them into those places like animals," Coyle said. "They
have no reason to change out their substandard trailers - why would they put more
money into something when they're maxing out their rents now ?"
Commissioner Tim Nance, who introduced the measure, said some mobile home park
owners need to make sure they won't be fined or lose their property for past violations
if they invest in upgrades.
"They approached me — some owners want to come into compliance and start
investing in their facilities, but they want to have certainty," Nance said. "They want to
get on the right side of Collier County regulations when they do it."
Details of the proposed compliance program still need to be flushed out before
commissioners approve its final form -- including exactly what work would be expected
of trailer park owners and what flexibility regulators would be able to grant.
It's too early to say how many trailer park owners would be expected to enroll, Bosi
said. Involvement started out strong but ultimately fell short of expectations in 2003, he
said.
Commissioners Georgia Hiller and Tom Henning joined Nance in voting for the
program.
The same commissioners voted for and against a settlement last year with the owners
of a mobile home park that had racked up nearly $1 million in zoning violations.
Jerry and Kimberlea Blocker were fined daily from 2006 to 2013 for renting out trailers
on site that was zoned industrial. The Blockers argued their mobile home park
predated many of the county's zoning codes and counter -sued Collier, saying the park
should be grandfathered in.
When Nance was elected in November 2012, the majority of commissioners swung out
of favor of pursing the zoning fines. The commission voted, 3-2, to settle the lawsuit,
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Collier County to revive mobile home zoning program : Naples Daily News v� ^° 'I ^f'l
4/8/2014 1O.A.
forgiving the $1 million in fines, granting the owners zoning compliance and giving the
Blockers $540,000 in taxpayer money for their legal fees.
A month after the settlement, the Blocker family and their businesses collectively
donated $11,000 to Hiller's reelection campaign.
® 2014 Scripps Newspaper Group — Online
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COLLIER COUNTY
Board of County Commissioners
Item Number: 10.10.A.
4/8/2014 10.A.
Item Summary: Commissioner Hiller "s request regarding March 25, 2014 Naples Daily
News article titled "Collier County to revive mobile home zoning program ".
Meeting Date: 4/8/2014
Prepared By
Approved By
Name: OchsLeo
Title: County Manager, County Managers Office
Date: 4/2/2014 12:38:35 PM
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