That Trailer Park Should Have Never Been Put Up For Sale
That trailer park [on Simonton Street] should have never been put up for sale. What happened to charity? So some of the folks were not paying rent any longer; it should have been charity, not for profit, in the first place. Shame on Peter Batty and the church to turn these people out, when it should be obvious most or all of them have nowhere to go and no money to do it with even if they did have options. When I lived on the island I do not recall one negative incident coming from that little tree-laden community. The folks who lived there seemed to do so in harmony. Some were very poor and more than one picked up a bag of groceries from MCC every week, when I was working with the church pantry, but all of them seemed to be decent people, whom I’m sure contributed to the economy of our country when they were still able to work. Some still might be contributing to the economy of Key West.
As you say in your article in [Issue #24] of the Blue Paper, In less than a year’s time Key West has lost workforce housing at a record pace. First it was over 100 units at Peary Court, then the 230 or so with expiring deed restrictions and this past Tuesday another 44 units at Simonton Street Trailer Park were put on the slab. Key West does have an ordinance requiring 30% of newly constructed housing to be dedicated affordable housing, but somehow lately every project seems to have its own particular reason as to why it should not apply. For Peary Court and now the Trailer Park, the developments were not considered “new construction” even though both development plans call for total demolition and all new structures.
Before long, Key West is going to be that rich haven Hemingway warned about in the year of my birth, 1937. He warned that the wealthy are no longer going to put up with the shacks and poverty of any of the locals and will find ways to get rid of them. It certainly looks like, albeit 76 years late, his predictions are coming true, with the residents of Simonton St Trailer Park being the latest victims.
How can the developers claim the 30% rule [doesn’t apply] when they totally demolish and create new structures, as it seems is going to happen with the Simonton trailer park? This was going on when I was still down there writing about it in my column on the city commission and it looks like they’re still getting away with it. There’s nothing right about it. Nothing!
Peggy Butler
West Palm Beach