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believe in persistence, determination, experienced judgment and professionalism."
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(Non-legal services).
View edited version of Mr. Chester's remarks
about Mobile Home Displacement to
the Florida Housing Coalition at the 21st Annual Statewide Affordable Housing
Conference in Orlando, on 9/16/08.
See video
produced 10/7/07 by Mr. Chester...Explore Mobile Home
Displacement in the Town of Davie. Mr. Chester is actively involved in the
effort to solve mobile home displacement in Florida.
Local Government versus its
residents...A battle to keep people in their homes
Frank Serra, Chairman
of the Town of Davie Mobile Home Task Force, addressing residents of
the Tower Mobile Home Park on Friday, November 30, with Mitchell
Chester, Chris Narducci of the Law Office of Mitchell A.
Chester, P.A., and Janet Riley, of Broward Legal Aid. Also pictured
is Mr. Joe DeFalco, who, along with tenants of Tower have filed a
lawsuit against the City of Hallandale Beach to stop the City's
plans to close the park and eliminate homes.
Crisis in Hallandale Beach...On the front lines of America's
Accessible Housing Wars
New Times
Broward/Palm Beach edition writes on the Tower Mobile Home Park
dispute with the City of Hallandale Beach...see article written by
noted journalist Bob Norman, entitled, "Trailer Trashed,
Hallandale
draws a bead on its most vulnerable citizens,"
here.
Article published 3.27.08.
Affordable and Accessible
Housing For The Elderly, Workforce Residents and Disabled
Mr. Chester is part of a working
group of lawyers, advocates and planners striving to achieve
affordable housing in the Town of Davie, located in Broward County,
Florida.
In February and March, 2008, the
group collaborated on an omnibus ordinance designed to promote real
world solutions to the workforce and accessible housing crisis by
addressing inclusionary zoning, density bonuses and creation of an
Affordable Housing Trust Fund. The Town of Davie Council is expected
to vote on the proposed ordinance in April, 2008.
This is the first such ordinance to
be considered by the Town. The office has donated scores of hours
toward this effort.
Town of Davie Affordable
Housing Advisory Committee (AHAC)
8.21.08- Mr. Chester was
named Chair of the Town's Affordable Housing Advisory Committee, which was
established when Davie became eligible for Florida State Housing Initiative
Partnership (SHIP) funds.
Recent legislation was
enacted requiring each municipal government in Florida to establish an AHAC,
which will now serve on a continuing basis. The purpose of the AHAC is to review
and evaluate the current Affordable Housing Incentive Plan, and make
recommendations on eleven specific housing areas, including, but not limited to:
-The processing and
approval of development orders or permits for affordable housing projects
-The modification of
impact-fee requirements, including reduction of or waiver of fees and
alternative methods of fee payment for affordable housing
-The allowance of
flexibility in densities for affordable housing
-Reservation of
infrastructure capacity for housing of very-low, low, and moderate-income
persons
-Allowance of
affordable accessory residential units in residential zoning districts
-The reduction of
parking and setback requirements for affordable housing
-Allowance of flexible
lot configurations, including zero-lot line configurations for affordable
housing
-The modification of
street requirements for affordable housing
-The preparation of a
printed inventory of locally owned public lands suitable for affordable
housing
-The establishment of a
process by which a local government considers, before adoption, policies,
procedures, ordinances, regulations, or plan provisions that increase the
cost of housing
-The support of
development near transportation hubs and major employment centers and
mixed-use developments
Our office annually supported the efforts of Broward Lawyers Care,
a pro-bono service of Legal Aid Service of Broward County, Inc.
For more information on this important program, call Legal Aid at
954.736.2426.
The Law Office also supports Breast Cancer research through the
donation process.
In Summer, 2007, Mr. Chester produced a web
site devoted to the re-design of a better Interstate 595 in Broward
County, Florida. Working with community members and elected
officials, a dialogue was opened with the Florida Department of
Transportation to eliminate a proposed miles-long elevated tollway
costing as much as $200,000,000. The opposition was based upon
public safety, environmental, design and financing reasons. For more
on this effort, please visit
www.595Alert.org.
Mr. Chester is the developer and
Editor of
SharedEmergency.com,
originally designed as a
resource for disaster victims to post their needs in the aftermath
of major natural and man-made disasters. Long after the media
spotlight has passed, survivors often need to post their
circumstances to enable recovery. The original SharedEmergency site
was also designed to discuss climate change and global
warming issues, alert the world to missing persons and to publicize
individuals with catastrophic medical needs who have no financial
means to pay for needed medical care. The project was designed to be
non-profit and during its Beta period was regularly read across the
globe. The site stands
ready to help in the aftermath of major disasters by publishing the
current needs of disaster victims.
Above, trailer for
editorial entitled "NASA's Most Important Mission...Do We Have The
Right Priorities In Our Space Program?"
Mr. Chester was also the Editor of the
2005 site entitled
www.daviehurricanerelief.org, which connected those in need with
those who can help and addressed important disaster issues during
the busy hurricane season of 2005. He has also been involved
in other hurricane and migrant relief efforts over the past 20
years.
Mr. Chester also helped in the effort to
keep retail traffic away from Middle and Elementary Schools in 2004
by publishing and editing no-ikea.com, a web site designed to
oppose the construction of a massive IKEA furniture store in Davie,
Florida. To see the now
"off-line" no-ikea site, please visit Mr. Chester's resume page by
clicking
here.
IKEA Drops Plans
Posted
10/2/04 @ 8:06 a.m.
Mr. Chester also served as the first President of the
Pasadena Estates at Ridgeview Lake Estates North Homeowners
Association and helped to address local zoning issues.
Mr. Chester actively supports development of Davie Commons, a
proposed project in western Davie, and is co-Editor of
DavieCommonSense.org.
The Davie Commons project will enhance the tax base of the Town of
Davie, Broward County and the State of Florida, while creating up to
six thousand jobs.
Over the
years Mr. Chester has worked on pro bono matters, including the case
of Dinnen v. Pond Apple, a Federal Civil rights lawsuit that
dealt with the rights of a family to live with their son in a
condominium project. That case was featured on the CBS program
"60 Minutes."
"The hiring of
a lawyer is an important decision that should not be based solely upon
advertisements. Before you decide, ask us to send you free written
information about our qualifications and experience."
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