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Zephyrhills Mobile Home Park Taps City Utilities

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By CHRISTIAN M. WADE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 15, 2008

ZEPHYRHILLS -- Residents in Hillside Mobile Home Estates soon will be getting access to better quality water and centralized sewers.

They'll also be footing the bill.

The city council Monday night approved a request from the park's owner, Matthew J. Schlichte, to connect to the municipal utility systems as part of an effort to upgrade the retirement community's infrastructure. The vote reversed a previous decision.

Under the proposed deal between Hillside and Zephyrhills, the owner has agreed to pay more than $300,000 in impact fees and an estimated $45,000 to extend distribution lines into the park. Park residents will pay for the improvements in the form of higher rents.

Councilman Louis Lopez cast the lone dissenting vote, saying he felt the financial burden on the park's mostly older residents was too much.

"Twenty-five dollars is a lot to these people," he said, referring to the estimated monthly rent increase residents would face. "They deserve better than this."

When council members rejected Schlichte's request, they said they didn't want to get involved in a dispute between the landlord and residents over who should pay for the upgrades.

Some residents complained the landlord didn't have the authority under state law to make them pay. They filed a complaint with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, but the regulatory agency found no wrongdoing.

Schlichte told council members residents' leases include a provision allowing for increased rents to offset infrastructure improvements.

The community of 176 manufactured homes on State Road 54 is served by two wells and a small wastewater treatment plant that replaced the park's septic tanks.

Hillside is one of three communities seeking to tap into Zephyrhills' utility system.

In other business Monday night, council members:

Approved a resolution by a 4-1 vote voicing opposition to the construction of a 90-acre landfill off Enterprise Road, about nine miles northeast of the city limits.

Council President Danny Burgess cast the lone vote against the measure, saying he felt that the discussion was "one-sided" because company executives were not at the meeting.

The resolution, offered by members of Protectors of Florida's Legacy, raises concerns about the environmental and economic impact from the landfill, as proposed by Largo-based Angelo's Aggregate Materials. Dade City passed a similar resolution last week.

Voted unanimously to outsource the city's utility billing to a private out-of-state company as part of an effort to cut costs and streamline the process.

Amended the city's sanitation regulations to charge delinquent customers a $45 reconnection fee.

Reporter Christian M. Wade can be reached at (727) 815-1082 or cwade@tampatrib.com.

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