Orange County approves permit to demolish Lake Downey Mobile Home Park

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orange County staff approved a permit that would let a county-backed contractor raze a troubled mobile home park Tuesday, finally putting an end to a years-long problem for the community.

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Trash pickup and demolition work at the Lake Downey Mobile Home Park was expected to begin as soon as Friday, Commissioner Mayra Uribe said, at a cost of nearly $400,000.

The county was prompted to act by a pair of fires at the now-closed property earlier this month. The park’s tenants were formally evicted last year, months after water was shut off to the property.

The park had been plagued by drug and crime problems for years. Many blamed the absent owners, who racked up millions of dollars in fines.

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The owners have been emailing county leaders on and off for weeks, complaining of financial hardship and seeking a release from the fines.

They have so far refused to take responsibility for the dilapidated state of the site, and denied owning the park when WFTV approached them in-person in the past. Uribe said the county became fed up at their empty promises to clean the site up, and the government would eventually pass the cost of the clean-up on to them.

“Usually you get people who try to work with you to get this done,” she explained. “The last thing we need to do is allow this community to keep suffering.”

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An emailed request for comment to the owner, Dr. Usha Jain, was not returned.

The county hopes the site clean-up prompts a sale to a developer that is proposing to build apartments. The idea has been welcomed by community members, who say any changes would be an improvement.

“Tear [the park] down,” one man said to the news crew as he rode his bicycle by.

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