PORT SALERNO — Ann Gunsolus can’t bear the thought of losing her home, even though it’s a makeshift campsite in a privately owned woods a stone’s throw from U.S. 1.

“Cry: That’s what I do so far is cry,” Gunsolus said, while thinking about where she will go when the authorities evict the homeless people from the woods. “When you have nothing, there’s not much you can do.”

Gunsolus and more than a dozen other homeless men and women fear sheriff’s deputies will roust them as soon as Thursday from the patchwork of tents and tarps they call home.

They have tried to keep a low profile in the heavily wooded property east of U.S. 1 and south of Hydrangea Street, seeking work and a meal during the day, and returning to sleep at night. Some of the campsites have homey touches, like hand-crafted wooden fences, broom-swept dirt floors, and dining areas with tables and chairs.

But their small community was discovered by a code enforcement officer and a sheriff’s deputy who were conducting an aerial inspection of another property from an airplane, said Martin County Building Official Larry Massing.

“We just kind of tripped over it,” Massing said. “It stood out pretty well. They’ve got a pretty significant tarp system and a flag pole and the whole deal, so it was pretty evident it was kind of like a tent city.”

A code enforcement officer who later checked out the campsites found several piles of trash and unsanitary conditions that violate the county’s rules, Massing said.

Although no official notice of violation was issued, the property owner was informed about the homeless people residing on her land and she asked that they be removed, Massing said.

The deadline for the homeless people to remove their belongings from the wooded property is Thursday, Massing said.

“We just asked them to clean up the property after they’re gone,” Massing said.

Rhonda Irons, spokeswoman for the Martin County Sheriff’s Office, said a deputy told several homeless people last week that anyone found on the property without the owner’s permission will be issued a trespassing notice. But Irons did not specify a deadline for the homeless people to get off the property.

“Law enforcement is not unsympathetic to their plight,” Irons said. “The Community Oriented Policing Unit has … worked with several service organizations to try to provide alternate living arrangements for those displaced individuals. There have been instances where individuals have taken advantage of the services offered and they are now no longer in that area.”

“The individuals that have chosen to remain have repeatedly declined services that have been offered to them,” Irons said. “In fact, some of those that remain the area have working vehicles and are employed.”

By Wednesday afternoon, several of the homeless people were packing up their belongings and trying to figure out where to go.

Sue Noble, who lost her home and then her job, said she’s tired of being treated like a second-class citizen and chased from place to place.

“I noticed how people treated you differently because you were homeless,” Noble said. “I lived over there at Jensen Beach Causeway for a little over a year and the police told me I had to leave. Otherwise they were going to start giving me tickets and after the third one they were going to throw me in jail.”

“So, I just kind of like moved around,” Noble said. “But it just seemed like no matter where I went, I’m being chased off.”

By George Andreassi, TCPalm.com

Tags: author, beach, camp, codes, communication, deputies, deputy, dining, homeless, informant, jail, jobs, Martin County Sheriff's Office, Mass, police, profiling, property, sheriff, woods

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