Evictions are set to resume Tuesday morning at the Li’l Abner Mobile Home Park in Sweetwater, where nearly 200 residents are being told for the last time they must leave their homes.
The City of Sweetwater confirmed that 87 residents were evicted Monday and about 90 more are expected to be removed Tuesday. City officials said those residents will have 10 days to contact the administrator’s office if they want to return to retrieve their belongings. After that, the doors to their homes will be locked for good.
Inside some of the homes, residents could be seen packing up what’s left. One man, who said he moved in last December and spent $170,000 on his home, told CBS News Miami he’s not ready to give up his house.
“There isn’t any park that will accept us,” said resident Enrique Zazelaya.
Developers plan affordable housing project
Developers first notified residents last November that the park would be closing, offering buyouts of up to $14,000 for those who agreed to move out by January and smaller amounts for those who left by April. Many residents said those offers didn’t come close to covering their losses.
“To spend $90,000 on the house and lose it makes me very sad,” one resident said in Spanish.
At one point, about 900 families lived in the Li’l Abner community. Roughly 200 remained a year later, but the developers who purchased the property plan to replace the mobile homes with new affordable housing units.
“America is a huge place. There’s a lot of land,” another resident said. “They don’t need to do that here. They should help the lower and middle class.”
Legal battle continues as residents seek help
The City of Sweetwater said it helped relocate some residents to Southpointe Vista Apartments, an affordable housing complex where rent is about $530 a month. Officials said those units are now full.
Some residents said they were never offered that option and have nowhere to go.
“I don’t know where to go. We don’t have a place,” said Zazelaya.
Attorneys representing the residents said the case is currently in the appellate court, and they plan to attend a zoning meeting next week.
CBS News Miami also reached out to the developers of the Li’l Abner Mobile Home Park, but they have not commented.
