Immokalee migrant workers could lose their homes due to Collier zoning violations

Trailer park owners sue the county to allow them to continue operating

By TRACY X. MIGUEL (Contact)
6:13 p.m., Sunday, January 18, 2009



Paulo Villegas, top and neighbors Lorenzo Perez, left, brothers Alejandro, center, and Angelino, right, seasonal residents of a trailer park at the end of Alachua Street in Immokalee, wait outside of their home for a ride to the citrus fields on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009.

IMMOKALEE — Several migrant workers who live in a trailer park in Immokalee could lose their rental homes because of Collier County zoning violations.

The 34 units, some of which are more than 50 years old, are in an unpaved trailer park. Some are older, frame-built homes and others are manufactured trailer homes.

Jerry and Kimberlea Blocker own the trailer park and filed a civil lawsuit against Collier County in order to continue operating it. They say their rentals are not uninhabitable and date back to the 1940s, long before many of Collier’s zoning laws regarding trailer parks were enacted.

The Blockers purchased the property, called “Shell Trailer Parkâ€