Neighbors Celebrate As Cleanup On Mobile Park Begins

LAKE PLACID - The noise started early Monday morning.
But the loud and regular pounding and scraping was welcomed by neighbors like Donna and Sergio Guzman as about a dozen workers prepared former mobile home park Viking Village for demolition.
"Sergio and I are enjoying the sound of heavy metal - aluminum crashing to the ground," said Donna Guzman, with a broad smile.

In mid-September, the 18-unit trailer park was condemned by the county, and the property owner was threatened with daily fines.

Most of the trailers and buildings at the park, located at County Road 17 and Lake June Road, are dilapidated with gaping holes and broken windows.
Neighbors had complained that the dilapidated trailers were a health risk and an eyesore.
Property owner Randy Herscovici, of Sebring Properties LLC, verbally informed April Hartseil, Highlands County interim lead code enforcement officer, Monday he had started cleaning to prepare for demolition.

Victor Morales, a worker at the site, said on Tuesday that all of the structures would be gone and the area cleared within two weeks.

Hartseil said she was pleased with the work to date, but would not celebrate fully until the work was completed. The code enforcement office had not yet received word from Herscovici in writing confirming that demolition would proceed.

"I'm very satisfied that we got compliance," said Hartseil. "This is what keeps us going. It usually goes very quickly when the owner steps up and does it, but the official process can be frustrating."

Neighbor Jean Dunn and the Guzmans led a public relations campaign and worked closely with Hartseil.
"We never thought it would happen," said Dunn. "No one would believe it. Government will work when you get the right people."

Neighbor Randal White was pleased to get rid of what he said was "an eyesore."
"It was full of elderly people from the north," said White. "But slowly it went to this condition."
The park "officially" closed in 2005 when the property was rezoned to an R-3 district, with plans for 32 townhomes.

Less than a month ago, a resident said at the time he rented a trailer on the condemned property and that three other units were occupied.

Neighbors recently reported pizza delivery drivers entering the site, several vehicles a day using the internal roadways and, occasionally, school buses picking up and dropping off children near the property.