The people who formed a mini-encampment next to Burlington City Hall appear to have moved on, and not just because snow arrived this week.
An official city notice hanging against the building’s south wall warns that “no camping is permitted at this location at any time.”
Posted November 1, the notice says that any belongings found on the site after 8 a.m. November 4 would be removed.
“If you do not stop camping or if you return to camp at this spot after it is cleaned up the city may pursue legal action against you,” the notice added.
Burlington City Attorney Eileen Blackwood said the advisory was posted after someone used the code enforcement website SeeClickFix to report blankets, a lawn chair and trash in the bushes next to city hall.
In an email, Blackwood said that “individuals known to be homeless had been gathering in that area earlier in the fall but the items had been left unattended.”
Because no one picked up the stuff, it was put in storage, Blackwood said. If the items are not retrieved by December 5, the city will toss them or give them away to a nonprofit.
Blackwood said that, to her knowledge, no one was cited for camping illegally at the spot. Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger declined to comment.
The encampment formed in July after the renovation of City Hall Park began, displacing homeless people who were accustomed to spending much of their day there.
Some told Seven Days they felt they were being evicted by an unnecessary project in the park. They vowed to stay at the spot next to the south door of city hall in protest.
Complaints about trash and fights at the spot followed. In August, the city expanded the construction fencing around the park, displacing the mini-encampment but not by much. Several members of the group simply moved their chairs and blankets a dozen feet to the side. They continued to spend much of the day there through the fall — at least, until the sign went up.
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They are simply waiting for their future home to be finished. You can’t have it both ways Burlington. The virtue signal capital of the world wants everyone to know how wonderful and progressive we are. We’ve created an environment that attracts homeless people due to the services provided. One “famous” homeless man passed a few years ago and was the subject of some news write-ups. He had commented, prior to his death, that Burlington is the, “Shangri-La for homeless people”. So now we’re going to use the police or something to keep the homeless from camping where they shouldn’t? Well, only if it’s downtown actually. Then when the park gets completed….what’s gonna happen? Police shake downs of these homeless? Increased patrols even though the police have no teeth, compliments of the libs/progressives around here. Good luck! I’m grabbing the popcorn and settling in for the show. I won’t be watching it downtown, in person, because it’s unappealing to our family, for many reasons.
Homelessness is a symptom of larger problems: untreated mental illness, poverty, high cost of living, people enabling the activity, etc. We seem to think that letting people “choose” to be homeless is the kind thing to do, but in reality, helping them become productive members of society (whenever possible) is the right thing to do. And sometimes, that may mean treating their mental illness without their consent. The bar for that kind of treatment is set too high’in many cases, leading to many more people being homeless and sometimes, ending up dead. If you had a choice of being homeless and not knowing who you are, or living a fulfilling life, which would you choose?
I don’t think it is fair to make assumptions as to how panhandlers spend money. I do know that making 15 bucks an hour working full time is still not enough money to live but it will get you kicked off SSDI and Medicare/Medicaid. Given that, it’s better to panhandle off the books than to work on the books.