Residents of the Pines Trailer Park in Bradenton Beach are speaking out regarding the possible loss of their homes and investments.
The park came under ownership of Pines Park Investors LLC Sept. 8, 2023. The purchase price was for $16,250,000 and developer Shawn Kaleta is listed as title manager of the corporation.
PPI maintains that hurricane damage and changes to the city’s floodplain elevation standards are the motivating factors behind a park closure notice that went out to residents in late January.
Residents of the park spoke at a Feb. 20 city meeting, pleading with the commission to intervene.
“It’s really hard to believe the city would allow a senior living community that dates back to the 1940s to be redeveloped,” resident Elayne Armaniaco said.
“Didn’t you get elected in part to protect the character of Bradenton Beach?” she added. “If you participate to make it easier for a particular developer to change the city in unpopular ways, you are not doing your job.”
Armaniaco called on the city to deny a change of land use from the park’s M-1 zoning, a designation that allows single-family mobile homes.
Mayor John Chappie said the city never approved a change of use for the Pines and it had not received a change of use application for the property.
Still, Pines homeowner John Shore spoke about financial losses if people are forced out of the park, where residents own or rent their mobile homes.
“A unit in Pines Trailer Park was worth around $150,000 prior to the hurricane,” he said, referring to Helene in September 2024. “They range in value from about $100,000 to a couple of people who paid over $200,000 for trailers. If they take that average of $150,000 times 86 trailers in the park, that’s approximately $13 million. This is not inexpensive. I personally lost $165,000. I’m 83 years old and that loss really hurts.”
Homeowners say they have received contradictory notices and evaluations from Pines Park Investors and the city since the park was damaged by storm surge and high winds.
The Islander reached out to Sam Negrin of PPI Feb. 27 by text but as of press time March 3 there was no response.
The backstory
Last fall, Helene’s storm surge followed by high winds from Hurricane Milton damaged 86 mobile homes in the park.
City assessments in October 2024, created in consultation with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, deemed the units “substantially damaged,” triggering the federal 50% rule and requiring the costly repairs.
The 50% rule applies to homes in flood-prone areas. If a property is classified as “substantially damaged,” the structure must be brought up to current code standards. This may include elevating the structure above the current floodplain minimums.
Under the same rule, a facility is considered repairable when the disaster-related repairs do not exceed 50% of the cost to replace the structure value.
Under FEMA guidelines this is only feasible if the building can perform its pre-disaster function as well as it did prior to the incident.
Pines residents pushed back against the assessment, requesting individual inspections instead of a blanket assessment.
In December 2024, the city allowed for individual damage assessments. And an independent review by the homeowners’ association found 83 of the 86 units did not need removal and therefore could be repaired without elevation.
However, on Jan. 24, Pines Park Investors LLC issued eviction notices through a property management company, the Urban Group. The notices cited a land-use change that required the homes to be removed by July 31.
Park owners cited a 75% delinquency rate in rent, high restoration costs, safety concerns and financial hardship as reasons for closure.
Residents have disputed the claim, arguing many are current on payments and believe the park can recover. But the notice halted homeowner repair plans.
Reporter Robert Anderson can be reached at robert@islander.org. Send letters to the editor at news@islander.org.