It's a cool evening in late March at Li’l Abner Mobile Home Park in Sweetwater and a group of local residents — some carrying signs and bullhorns — are settling in for their daily and nightly ritual: protesting against the trailer park's owners plans to demolish homes and redevelop the property they collectively call home.
The park residents have not only been demonstrating since December after the company that owns the park — CREI Holdings — told roughly 900 families they’d have to pack up and leave by May 31. Some residents have chosen to take a stand in the midst of their turmoil with a different approach: by running for local government.
“ Me and some of my neighbors, we decide to run. Not only to fight the wrongdoing, but to improve the community, the city,” said Li’l Abner resident and Sweetwater commission candidate Luis Armando Chanlatte.
The plight of Li’l Abner's residents is playing out throughout South Florida, one of the nation's most expensive housing markets, as affordable mobile home parks are being demolished to make way for new developments. Being left behind are thousands of people with few options to find a reasonably priced place to live.
"I think that as the land gets more valuable down here and housing becomes less easily accessible ... you're gonna start seeing a lot of mobile home parks go away," said Christian Savio, a real estate attorney who works in Florida mobile home law.
The candidates said that the negative experiences they and their neighbors have faced since last year at their park have pushed them to enter the political arena. Chanlatte, Teresita Blanco and Mario Leiva are facing off against incumbent Sweetwater commissioners Jose Marti, Ian Vallecillo and Idania Llanio.
“ None of the commissioners or even the mayor seem to care about the situation here that affects not only the Li’l Abner, but the whole city,” Chanlatte told WLRN.
In a written statement, the City of Sweetwater said it is concerned about the situation affecting Li’l Abner residents and has attempted to assist them. Officials said the cityhas no right to interfere in the process because CREI Holdings, as owner of the park, has the right to redevelop the land.
n
READ MORE: New exhibit memorializes South Florida's disappearing mobile home communities
Last November, Li’l Abner Mobile Home Park owner CREI Holdings placed notices on mobile home residents’ doors saying that the park would be demolished and that residents would have to leave within 6 months. For those choosing to leave immediately, the park owner offered $14,000 — a figure that residents say is far below the value of their homes. The longer they waited to leave, the lower the payout.
In mobile home parks, residents buy their trailers but lease the land the trailer resides on from a landowner. Landowners are able to sell or make changes to the park without resident approval.
After residents received the notices, they complained to park management. In early December, 61-year-old resident Vivian Hernandez refused to leave the management office while complaining that she was being forced to leave. Police arrived to arrest Hernandez for disorderly conduct.
Footage of her arrest captured on body-worn camera showed police grabbing Hernandez forcefully by her arms while she was sitting, and throwing her to the ground. The video was broadcast by local news stations, sparking protests from her neighbors and community outcry.
Not long after Hernandez’s arrest, park residents filed a lawsuit against the park’s owner and the City of Sweetwater, claiming CREI Holdings misled residents into thinking there were no plans for redevelopment. The case is still pending in Miami-Dade County civil court.
Confusion over demolitions
Almost as soon as residents were given notice to leave Li’l Abner by May 31, demolition began on trailers that had already been abandoned. The City of Sweetwater told WLRN that the owner was cited for beginning demolitions without required permits.
In March, the park’s owner was cited again for demolishing trailers that contained asbestos without properly testing them — releasing harmful material into the air.
Demolition crews hired by the owner were issued a cease and desist notice from Miami-Dade County on March 24 after workers were filmed taking water out of a storm drain to spray down demolition sites. WLRN received the notice in response to a public records request.
“I know a resident who’s surrounded by the active demolition. He had his windows open and all of his clothing got wet. He told me it smelled horrible,” said Melissa Martin, a community advocate whose mother owns a mobile home in Li’l Abner.
“I love this place. I raised my children here. And my heart bleeds with all the suffering and I wanna make a change in the politics that they have, because nobody seems to care."Teresita Blanco, Li’l Abner resident who is running for Sweetwater City Commission.
When crews demolish buildings, they have to spray down the debris to keep from kicking up dust and particulates. But using water from a storm drain is off-limits and hazardous, as the water can be polluted.
“Hauling of stormwater in Miami-Dade County requires a Liquid Waste Transport permit and disposal of liquid waste shall only occur at a department-operated facility,” the county’s Department of Regulatory and Economic Resources (RER) wrote in a notice to demolition firm Downrite Engineering.
CREI Holdings and Urban Group, the firm handling the park’s redevelopment, did not respond to WLRN’s questions about the use of stormwater, or about how the developer is ensuring the safety of residents living next to active demolition.
The City of Sweetwater told WLRN through a spokesperson that the developer does not need demolition permits to tear down mobile homes because they are “non-fixed structures.” The developer only requires permits from the city to cut off electricity, water and gas to demolished structures, and asbestos inspection permits from Miami-Dade County.
"According to the Florida Building Code’s administrative chapter, the demolition or removal of a “structure” requires a permit. However, mobile homes are not classified as structures under this code and are instead regulated by the Florida Department of Transportation. As such, they do not fall within the jurisdiction of the City of Sweetwater’s Building Department," a city spokesperson said.
The city granted the developer permits to disconnect utilities with an attached exhibit that lists every mobile home in the park, including, according to Martin, homes that are still occupied.
Miami-Dade County told WLRN that demolition of mobile homes has several requirements including a demolition permit.
"Since the removal of a mobile home from a mobile home park requires disconnecting the utilities: water, sewer, electricity and cable TV if available, a permit would be the manner of documenting the removal. The mobile home can then be hauled away. If the mobile home is to be demolished on site, a demolition permit would be appropriate," an RER spokesperson told WLRN.
While crews have been demolishing buildings, animal activists have been working to capture the many cats that remain in the park. Some are strays that were fed by residents, others were pets that had to be abandoned.
Those who are left
Many of the park’s residents have picked up and left for greener pastures. But Sleiman Chaya says he and his family haven’t been so lucky.
“We are looking for another home to rent. But you know, in this situation, not all of people have money to pay the rent,” Chaya said. “ I swear I have three months looking to find a home because we are four people and two dogs, and we have three cars. So it’s not easy to find it.”
Teresita Blanco is another Li’l Abner resident who is running for Sweetwater City Commission. She’s lived at the park for 30 years.
“I love this place. I raised my children here. And my heart bleeds with all the suffering and I wanna make a change in the politics that they have, because nobody seems to care,” she said.
Blanco pays roughly $1,200 per month in rent for the land under her mobile home. New apartments already built on the Li'l Abner property are advertised at $2,194 a month for a one-bedroom, one-bath unit.
Blanco and her fellow candidates say that the injustices they’ve faced have inspired them to take political action, and hope this can inspire other Sweetwater residents come Election Day on May 13.
