SWEETWATER, Fla. – As construction on a new, bigger and bolder affordable housing apartment building continues to take shape on the edge of the Li’l Abner Mobile Home Park in Sweetwater, residents caught in the middle of a looming change continue to worry after being blindsided by a letter warning them that the property has been sold and they have six months to move.
The closure affects 900 lots and thousands of people.
Sweetwater commissioners are set to hold their first meeting since the closure Monday evening and it’s expected that they’ll hear from residents affected by the closure.
The land’s owner is offering what it considers a “comprehensive relocation package,” up to $14,000 if a resident vacates by Jan. 31, which is more than what Florida statute requires for relocation.
The drama has unleashed protests among mobile homeowners who say they have nowhere else to go. Sweetwater’s mayor told us he had no prior knowledge of the park’s pending sale, and no plans have been submitted to the city.
However, county records show that Mayor Jose “Pepe” Diaz sponsored a resolution in 2022, as a then Miami-Dade County Commissioner, allocating more than half a million dollars to the developer of the affordable housing project that was recently built at the base of Li’l Abner Mobile Home Park.
Diaz has said he’s working with Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and other officials to ensure residents, especially seniors, can find new places to live.