Residents of Bradenton Beach mobile home park fighting eviction post-Hurricane Helene
BRADENTON BEACH, Fla. - The Pines Trailer Park in Bradenton Beach has withstood the test of time, but now, the park’s owner is telling residents that everyone will soon be evicted.
First, they had to deal with the heartache from Hurricane Helene and the following cleanup. Then came the worry of possibly being red-tagged by FEMA.
Local perspective:
At the Pines Trailer Park, the last six months have been an emotional roller coaster for residents. The community is tired, but they’re fighting to stay.

"It was overwhelming, and we just knew we had to push forward to overcome it," said Elayne Armaniaco, who is a resident at the park.
After 83 out of 86 homeowners were permitted by the City of Bradenton Beach’s building officials to rebuild under FEMA’s 50% rule, they began cleaning up and working to get back home.
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The landowner, Pines Park Investors LLC, managed by Shawn Kaleta, sent a letter saying in part: "We are proud to own Pines Park and are excited for its recovery and long-term existence."

The other side:
After the new year, residents received a six-month eviction notice.
"It was like a gut punch. We didn’t expect it. It was a big surprise. It was really difficult," said Armaniaco.
Residents like Armaniaco said they feel like they’ve been abandoned. She and her husband have been residents since 2019.
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"It’s very confusing to us. We’ve tried to work with the landowner. I personally have reached out to Shawn Kaleta as the manager of the LLC, and we’ve been trying to reach out so we could just talk about it all together, but sadly, that’s not been met with a sense of cooperation," said Armaniaco.
Dig deeper:
On top of that, residents said the park owners have done no cleanup, with a flood line still visible in the community shower and metal hidden by overgrown weeds.
"Our spaces are unsafe, they’re not clean," said Armaniaco.
Big picture view:
Residents of the 55-plus community own their manufactured homes, but they don’t own the land.
The park property was purchased by the LLC in 2023, according to a lawsuit filed by The Pines Trailer Park Homeowners Association. When the property was sold, the residents were told they could stay for at least five years.
"It’s been an emotional toll, a physical toll, a financial toll, and it’s to a senior population, which, you know, is a little bit more fragile than other populations," said Armaniaco.
What's next:
Residents hope their lawsuit will buy them more time to stay in their piece of paradise.
"They know we are stellar tenants. We had always hoped that would help them treat us like the community and the people we are, and not just as buildings. They purchased a community, and sadly, I feel as if they sometimes treat us just as buildings," said Armaniaco.
Residents said they didn’t want it to get to the point where they had to file a lawsuit. Before residents received the eviction letter, the LLC offered to sell the right to purchase to residents for $75 million, which is more than four times the amount it had appraised in March.
The Source: FOX 13's Kimberly Kuizon collected the information in this story.
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