Briarwood RV Park Residents To Get More Help Relocating

A special fund will be created by the developer and parsed out to remaining Briarwood Travel Villa RV park residents by Pinellas County officials, after plans for the Largo park were brought before the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday.

The commission will revisit the development plans Aug. 6 and vote on the land use change that would allow 260 high end multi-family apartments to the nearly 14-acre parcel near Seminole Boulevard and Ulmerton Road.

There were many letters and speakers in support of the project. However, the stories from a few residents who recently moved, as well as those of some still trying to move, prompted the pause for the plans.

Many of the residents already have relocated, said Tina Harper, property manager.

Mobile homes that can’t not move on their own would be repaired, and park owners would pay to haul the units to other parks, Harper said. Owners also would pay to remove additions and units left behind.

She also is working daily to determine what other options are available for the nearly 50 residents still at the park.

She said she has found 126 available lot spaces in nearby parks, including Buckeye Mobile Home Park off Donegan Road and Belle Haven Mobile Home Park in Clearwater.

“I am very committed to this,” Harper said. “I’ve spent hours and hours with folks in the park reaching out to see what works for them.”

However, Christine L. Allamanno, an attorney with Gulf Coast Legal services, said it is not enough.

She represents about 30 remaining residents who live in 11 units at Briarwood.

Average costs associated with moving including deposits, movers and application fees can be $1,200, Allamanno said. Much more than the $400 residents are given in lieu of paying their final month’s rent.

“What we have is a math problem,” she said.

Commissioner Susan Latvala called creating the fund an unprecedented move that could have far reaching effects on future development in the county.

“I’m supportive of this and I think it’s a bold act by the developer but we are setting a precedent here folks. If we weren't looking these people in the eye, this is the kind of neighborhood we want improved ... And we have a developer doing that making a huge improvement to the City of Largo,” Latvala said. "And we’re way down in the weeds, there are a whole lot of homeless people out there who could use what we are offering here. If we're all so passionate about this why haven't we done something before?”

Ken Welch disagreed.

“Sometimes we need to get in the weeds and I think this is all tied to prevention," Welch said. “I see positives, I see a developer who understands where we are coming from and see future developers coming to us with a plan to make sure future people aren’t homeless.”