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Tents in the woods behind my house...homeless people?

16K views 47 replies 19 participants last post by  trigger22 
#1 ·
There's land behind my house that is undeveloped and I believe is owned by the city. It's very woodsy and previously I thought nothing of it. While looking at a map of our area I noticed that there's a pond on this land so I thought I would go check it out. The pond is pretty unimpressive but right next to the pond was this huge hill. I climbed the hill and found two tents with a bunch of dirty blankets strewn everywhere. There was also a lot of trash all over the place. I think there might be homeless people living there. It makes me kind of uncomfortable. What should I do?
 
#2 ·
We had the same situation. My wife's office is at the front of a 5 acre tract, using perhaps 1/2 acre of it. The 5-6 neighboring buildings are the same, and the back of all these properties backs up to a power line easement that's about 200 yards wide. So a lot of land with no people.

I've taken my kids to ride dirt bikes and play paintball in those woods/scrubs for several years. This spring, while walking the land prior to playing paintball, I came across 2 tents in the woods, almost exactly the way you describe them. Evidence of recent habitation, but nobody there (at least that I could see, no telling who might have been concealed in the underbrush).

I took my kids out of there ASAP. Then I called the county sherriff. They sent out a deputy, I walked with him to the tents. He took them down (not very gently), threw them in his trunk, and marked the area with crime scene tape.

He said that when the homeless people returned and saw the crime scene tape they would leave the area. I asked about their tents, and he said they'd thow them away in a few days if unclaimed.

I went back a week or so later, and didn't see any evidence of re-colonization of the area.

For me, the answer was to get the sherriff involved. However, i felt like crap that these peoples few belongings were taken from them and they would probably never see them again.

You can leave a note telling them that you will call sherriff if they're not gone in in a day or so... Don't threaten, don't give name, don't even say you're a neighbor. Then call sheriff's office.

My guess is that your county police will react about the same way.

Good luck.
 
#4 ·
This is a tough one for me. I havent always had a nice home and or a place to stay. To take someones tent if they truely didnt have anywhere else to go would make me feel awful. If the situation was different (not so close to home) I might even offer them some food or supplies. On the other side of the coin if I was worried about my familys safety when I wasnt home then there would be no question, no note just call the sheriff and get them outta there.

Then there is the guy on the corner holding a homeless sign with better shoes than me talking on his cell phone (smoking$20 pack cigs), probably taking in more than most of us some days because there are warm hearted people who feel sorry for them, really irks me.
 
#5 ·
There was a big deal about a similiar situation in the newspaper in Myrtle Beach last year. City or county owned property where homeless people were living. The city was determined to "get rid of them" with the same methods described above. There other side sympathized as they were not bothering anybody and had no where else to go.

Where do you draw the line? Government is cutting all the welfare programs including homeless shelters and mental health care and then getting upset when they live in a tent.

We can hardly line them up and shoot them but it would be the same effect and probably more humane.
 
#7 ·
we have this all over little pockets of wilmington, i mean right behind big business on busy roads, that you'd never see if you didnt see their tracks to and from the nearest beer store! We had one camp that had over 40 tents they had to "vacate" in order to build a business...ended up being a big deal and an eye opener to alot of people
 
#8 ·
So much waste in the welfare system. Hard to imagine they couldn't get some kind of assistance.

Most of my run ins with things like this around Wilmington and Carolina Beach these people were drug abusers and didn't try to make their lives any better.

But on the other hand they may be good people in a bad spot. You are the one who has to sleep with the decisions you make.

Do what you feel is right. But do not destroy other peoples property (tents, blankets and etc.) and expect no repercussions.

Sent from my XT926 using Tapatalk 2
 
#9 ·
Any idea how much it costs to clean a meth lab? A weed growing operation near? How much damage from a fire they start? What is the land owner liability if they get hurt? My brother and I own several tracts in several areas. We ask neighbors to notify us if they see activity, foot paths, tire tracks, smoke, etc. Police make so much noise no one is found and they don't want to make another visit so we take care of any situations our selves.
 
#12 ·
I had a temp at work who said he lived in a bamboo shack he built in the woods. He would always talk about homeless life and living off the grid. He was set up somewhere close to a shopping center, ride his bicycle to the temp place and them bum a ride with one of the other temps to and from work. He seemed to like it and had no intentions of doing anything else.

The office/industrial park in RTP where I work has a wooded area close by and there is a guy I see walking every so often that I suspect is set up in those woods. I often see him panhandling at 1 of 2 busy intersections and see him walking back from Walmart toward the woods.
 
#14 ·
I have helped homeless Vets in Jacksonville. We got them bikes from the JPD impound and the JPD got them tents. Every thing was cool until the Daily News did a story and then suddenly the numbers increased and problems started. One large encampment was torn down near Gus's Country Bar off Piney Green. We had an encampment set up on State land with State permission and some of the low lifes moved over there and started problems. Donated a bunch of my dad's clothes and hats to them when he passed. Had a sub shop that saved pickle buckets for me to give them. The business they were behind let them use their restrooms and a hose in the back to shower and fill water buckets. The Vet camps have never been a problem until non-Vets move in. Last I knew that camp was being closed. That was two years ago and I have not been back.

Chances are the camp you found has been there awhile and never caused you a problem since you did not even know they were there. Why do you have to run them off? Sounds to me you were breaking the law by trespassing on private property, but you want them gone for breaking the same law. LEAVE THEM ALONE! If the LEOs go in there and take the possessions what will they do? Not like they have a bunch of money to go buy new tents and clothes.
 
#15 ·
Speckhunter, you touched on a subject I thought of when I read the post. The land in question is not the OP's, so I guess the real owner could have called the Sheriff about people illegally riding dirt bikes and trespassing while paint balling. Funny how breaking the law with 'good intentions' is OK, but when someone stereotyped as undesirable does a similar thing the law needs to be involved. Even sadder is that the Sheriff apparently saw no problem with illegal dirt bike riding, but was upset with someone maybe just trying to survive.
 
#18 ·
Just to be clear, the original poster had nothing to do with mini bike riding or paint ball.

That was me, in the second post, describing a similar situation. My family using land that my wife's boss owned, with her (the boss's) permission. We may have strayed a few feet onto neighoring property, but it's pretty hard to tell when the property lines aren't particularly marked well in the woods, and we tried to stay on the property where we had permission to be.

There's nothing illegal about riding a minibike or shooting paintball guns on someone's property with permission, and I'm not sure where you got the impression that we were trespassing, even with good intentions.

When I reported the tents, the women in the office all freaked. It's an all woman medical practice, and they did not want anyone living in the woods that they owned, behind their business. They were concerned with their safety. I called the Sheriff at the property owner's request.

Yeah, I'm not happy with what the deputy did. Frankly, if I knew what he would do, I might not have told the property owner. BUT, the property owner didn't want a homeless camp on their property, and she was concerned about her employees safety.

I think this is one of those situations where no matter what you do, you're potentially wrong.
 
#17 ·
Twilight, there are people who post on this site that make me uncomfortable, maybe I should get rid of them. Think about what you posted, we are talking about other human beings. A girl I went to high school with was mentally ill and homeless at times, she is no longer with us and it breaks my heart every time I think of mental torture she went through. A little kindness and understanding goes a long way.
 
#19 ·
there are people who post on this site that make me uncomfortable, maybe I should get rid of them.
I think several people would have already dispatched me if it were so easy. :D

As far as kindness going a long way, this statement holds SO much weight.

Sad world we live in.

We tolerate so many things that are wrong down to the fundamental core, every single day. Yet we can't tolerate to a group of less fortunate people to just simply survive.

We all pass judgements, and we try to justify them with stereotypes. ****, I am guilty of this. Just because a man is dirty, stinks and is unshaven doesn't mean he is a POS. A lot of us end up this way everyday before we get home from work.

We can't help everybody all the time but if you can help some people some of the time it is always worth the effort.
 
#20 ·
Biglenr, yep, my mistake referring to the OP. One note of clarification, might be different in NC, but just because you have permission from the land owner still does not necessarily allow dirt bike riding on power line land. The owner does own the land, but the easement document dictates what activities can and cannot occur on the land. Therefore, the power company has final say in whether dirt bikes are OK, but most specifically state this is not allowed on their websites. Know this from owning a tree farm in GA. From GA Power Company website.

Is trail riding by off-road vehicles allowed on the right-of-way?
No. The use of off-road vehicles on the right-of-way is not permitted. This type of use causes erosion to the area, disturbances to the property owners and can destroy the access routes that the company uses to get to the poles and wires.
 
#21 ·
I agree with Biglen....dang if you do, dang if you don't...

Some of those folks are just having rough times....then again some of them wouldn't work if you walked up to them and begged them to work for ya...then there's that type that wants a handout...and when you reach to give them a couple dollars they grab your entire wallet and take off.....there's a lot of different ways to look at the situation...


Sent from my kayak....
 
#23 ·
Just adding some useful info, that might help keep someone out of trouble. Opinion versus facts, facts win every time. You might think that going 75 mph on a road is perfectly safe, but if the speed limit is 55 mph, then it does not really matter what you think or doubt.
 
#26 ·
I also never said that my kids were riding a minibike on a power company access. I said it was back there, but I didn't say we used it. 5 Acres is plenty of land for mini biking and paintball, the other land is "bonus" so that we don't disturb anyone with the noise of the engine or the screams during paintball.

Why is this turning from a discussion of "What to do with people living illegally in the woods" to "I think you do illegal stuff too"?

My contribution to this thread is over. I just didn't want people to think I was trespassing.
 
#29 ·
Well this went off-topic real quick. :p

Anyway I'll think it over but I'm probably going to figure out who owns the land and give them a call and let them do what they will. Like I said, I'm pretty sure it's owned by the city but I don't know that for sure. I've never seen any "private property" signs anywhere but that doesn't necessarily mean anything.
 
#31 ·
I don't want to weigh in on IF they should or should not be allowed to stay.

However, if the property owner does decide to have them removed, isn't it fair to first politely ask them to to leave for ____ reason. Regardless of if they are simply down on their luck, or lazy, or unable to work, they are still people.

Here's a video to consider. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJ0y3vD5P8Y&sns=em
 
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