Diamond Shores residents say good-bye, move on

Residents of Diamond Shores mobile home park filled rental trailers, pickup trucks, cars and vans. They lingered with friends, most likely chatting for the last time over the weekend.

Smiles and sadness crossed their faces. For many it meant splitting up families as they sought housing in the county, even out of state.

Leila Monahagn is taking her grandson Carlos, 7, to Tennessee.

Her son, Steven Murphy, 21, has a part-time job and will be putting things in storage until he can find a place in the Naples area, sharing some type of housing with friends to afford the cost.

Monahagn's friend, Francis Koenig, won't be going to Tennessee. He has found a place to live in the Naples area and will continue working in the county.

Katherine Lawler and husband Chris couldn't get a fifth-wheeler mobile home given them fixed up in time to move.

Chris' boss is renting a trailer to the Lawlers until they can repair their own that will be placed in the trailer park where they now reside.

Anita Soria and her 11-year-old daughter are moving in with friends since they can't find affordable housing.

Once a stylish mobile home park with tennis courts, swimming pool and clubhouse, Diamond Shores has disintegrated into a mobile home park with trailers long-past usefulness.

Al Bottino, a part-time resident of Marco Island and New York, and David Steinberg of North Carolina, own more than 100 trailers in the park. Collier County Code Enforcement officers have cited their trailers for multiple code violations that have amounted to fines as much as $500,000, but Code Enforcement could not give an exact number.

The fines led to Bottino and Steinberg serving eviction notices in February as they played out their own soap opera, attacking the county, with Bottino calling the situation a vendetta on the county's part. The county eased up, hoping to work out an agreement with the owners to get trailers in habitable condition.

It appeared a compromise was struck when County Commissioner Donna Fiala stepped in to see if there was a way for residents not to be forced out. It led to Bottino meeting with county officials for on-site inspections of his trailers.

Photo by ROGER LALONDE, Marco Eagle

As residents left Diamond Shores mobile home park over the weekend, it split up families and friends. Stephen Murphy, 21, from left, will try to stay in the area; Francis Koenig has found a place in Naples; Leila Monahagn and grandson Carlos are moving to Tennessee, leaving son Stephen and daughter Angela behind.

Steinberg never agreed to inspections and has not been available for comment at any time.

The inspection of Bottino's trailers on March 6 ended after just two trailers. Bottino charged that code enforcement officers were compiling a list of future violations. He claimed the county was supposed to inspect the properties to tell him which were habitable. County officials said they were taking an inventory to make a judgment.

Jeff Klatzkow, assistant county attorney, who took part in the inspections, said the county's position was to try to keep as many people as possible staying in their homes, but living to at least the minimum standards of Code Enforcement.

On Good Friday, April 14, Bottino and Steinberg issued eviction notices to residents in all their trailers. Bottino wanted his renters out by April 30.

Steinberg's renters were to be out by May 31.

Bottino issued a second notice on May 15, saying renters were to be out by May 19.

Since neither owner pressed residents, they chose to follow Steinberg's notice plus a few days.

"By going past June 2 my grandson got to finish his school year, Monahagn, a Bottino renter, said.

A resident of the area for 24 years, Monahagn is upset that she is leaving, moving to Tennessee. She cited the increased cost of housing, leading to higher rental charges that forced her out.

"For years I rented houses, but in the last four years all I could afford was this rundown trailer," she said. On average the rental fee for the trailers was $650.

Koenig blames the owners for renters being evicted.

"I heard fines totaled $500,000. If they used half of that to repair the trailers they could have saved the place," Koenig said.

Soria called the situation ridiculous.

"We paid our rent, we have our receipts, and they never gave us the courtesy to tell us what was going on," she said. A Steinberg renter, Soria said, "All we got was an eviction notice placed on our door."

What upset Monahagn most was the lack of help she received.

"What annoys me most is that throughout all of this there was an incredible lack of compassion," she said. "It was unbelievable. It was like a town without pity. I called Legal Aid about the eviction notices, but they never returned my calls."

Bottino and Steinberg had claimed that their efforts to sell the property was severely hampered by Code Enforcement actions. Bottino would not comment on efforts to sell the property.

"In my mind it is the county who has deprived people of their homes," he said. "They forced us into what we did."