BY MARK J. CRAWFORD
Telegraph Editor
HAMPTON — A new mobile home subdivision near Hampton has received reluctant approval.
Following discussion, Bradford County commissioners eventually allowed the applicant to move forward.
Ed Rose from Middleburg was present Dec. 16 to represent One Bradford County Starke Florida Trust, which owns the property just north of the intersection of U.S. 301 and County Road 18.
Known as Rosewood, the subdivision contains seven lots, each around an acre or more in size. The lots are zoned for residential single-family home and mobile home development, but there will be no new homes. There won’t be new mobile homes, either. Instead, they will place used mobile homes in the subdivision, some as much as 20-years-old but repaired to “fairly high standards,” according to Rose.
Commissioner Danny Riddick asked about the trailers, the entrance to the subdivision from 301 and the future maintenance of the private road.
Rose said they had “upgraded” from low-income to middle-income buyers for this project. They won’t be financing the purchase of the mobile homes themselves. Buyers will have to be bank qualified.
As for the private road, most of the 38 homesites they’ve sold in the county are on private roads, Rose said, adding there isn’t another landlord he knows of who does a better job maintaining them.
His opinion did little to appease commissioners who know from experience that once residents purchase properties on private roads, they eventually struggle to maintain those roads and turn to the county for relief.
Commissioner Diane Andrews referred to multiple roads in her district that the residents cannot maintain, and the county cannot afford to take over. In that state, emergency services and school buses have difficulty accessing residents.
Commission Chairman Chris Dougherty called it one of the county’s biggest issues, saying that as properties change hands over the years and road issues are not disclosed, the second or third property owner ends up in front of them asking commissioners what they are going to do about their road.
At minimum, everyone who moves in there needs to be informed they are not on a county-maintained road, Dougherty said.
Riddick, saying he didn’t want a “trashy neighborhood,” expressed further concerns about the age and maintenance of the mobile homes by their future owners.
“Low-income or not, the people have to have something that’s nice that they can be proud to live in,” he said.
Rose had photos of the homes they have sold over the years and said it will up to the bank to select qualified owners. Riddick asked if a bank would even be interested in such properties knowing they are on a privately maintained road. Rose said there aren’t a lot, but there are “a couple” in Florida.
Zoning Director Randy Andrews said the trust had met all the requirements of the land development regulations and the Department of Health has verified that well and septic tank requirements can be met within the subdivision.
Attorney Will Sexton said the plat could be amended to include language making it clear none of the roadways in the subdivision are county owned. That won’t fix the problem, he said, but it will clarify in the future who is responsible for road maintenance.
Following some additional discussion of drainage, the commission voted unanimously to approve the minor subdivision.
