Inhabitants of a homeless camp near North Monroe Street and I-10 are being ordered to vacate the site by July 25 as the result of a lawsuit filed by the Leon County Attorney’s Office against landowner Frank Dama.
For decades, between six and 20 people have lived at the camp some call “Camp Monroe.” Leon County attorneys recently filed an injunctive action against Dama after he failed to respond to nuisance complaints.
Assistant County Attorney Laura Yomans says Dama is not opposed to the homeless living on his land.
“He was allowing the inhabitation of the property, without any permits, without any infrastructure, and was quite supportive of it too,” she says.
She says the land is zoned for use as a campground, but Dama does not have a permit for it.
Dama says he has sent a letter to the County Attorney’s Office in response to the lawsuit and doesn’t want the homeless people to be displaced.
“They don’t have a better alternative, and they’ve got things bad enough as it is without me making things worse for them,” he says. “But then, I don’t want to be charged for cleaning the site up.”
Neighboring residents and business owners near the camp have complained about issues ranging from noise to assault.
“It was essentially unidentified people roaming in the neighborhoods that were making the residents and the businesses uncomfortable,” Yomans says.
She says the county is asking that the site be cleaned and vacated by July 25.
“So, assuming that those two criteria are met,” Yomans says, “we’re anticipating dismissing the lawsuit.”
The Leon County Sherriff’s Office is working with the Big Bend Homeless Coalition to help residents relocate.
