ALLENTOWN, Pa. \u2014 About 100 people living in an encampment near Allentown\u2019s Jordan Creek will be forced out.<\/p>\n
City employees are set to \u201cpost formal notices\u201d Thursday telling residents of the area to vacate by Aug. 25, a city spokesperson confirmed Wednesday to LehighValleyNews.com.<\/p>\n
Officials are moving to clear the encampment \u201cin light of recent deadly flooding events across the country,” according to the city\u2019s statement.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s in an active flood zone, \u201cposing a significant danger to those living there,\u201d according to the statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe city is supporting community partners in their efforts to connect individuals with services, while also exploring both short- and long-term solutions,\u201d the statement says. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe safety and well-being of all residents will always remain a top priority for the city.\u201d<\/p>\n
The encampment in the Jordan Meadows area is at the center of a lawsuit from Allentown landlord Nat Hyman<\/a>, who owns several properties that neighbor it.<\/p>\n Hyman\u2019s complaint alleges people who live there often trespass on his properties and sometimes illegally connect to water and utilities.<\/p>\n He is asking a Lehigh County judge to declare it a nuisance and order the city to \u201cimmediately abate and remedy\u201d the area.<\/p>\n To clean or to clear?<\/p>\n The lawsuit is the first challenge to Mayor Matt Tuerk\u2019s directive for city employees to clean up rather than clear out homeless encampments.<\/p>\n Judge Douglas Reichley last month shot down Allentown\u2019s bid to have that lawsuit dismissed<\/a>, but it could become moot if the encampment is cleared by the end of the month.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not really addressing the problem, it\u2019s just brushing it aside. Why just bulldoze somebody\u2019s tent if they have nowhere else to go?\u201d<\/p>\n Mayor Matt Tuerk<\/p>\n The mayor in April told LehighValleyNews.com<\/a> that he changed the city\u2019s approach because it solves nothing to \u201cclear people out without a place to shelter.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not really addressing the problem, it\u2019s just brushing it aside,\u201d he said. \u201cWhy just bulldoze somebody\u2019s tent if they have nowhere else to go?\u201d<\/p>\n Officers until last fall posted no-trespassing signs at encampments and let residents pack up their belongings to relocate before bulldozers cleared sites, a police official said in March.<\/p>\n But that practice will resume Thursday near Jordan Creek.<\/p>\n ‘Sickening’: Councilwoman<\/p>\n Allentown City Councilwoman Ce-Ce Gerlach hit out at city officials Wednesday after learning of the encampment\u2019s impending shutdown.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s reprehensible,\u201d Gerlach said. \u201cIt\u2019s sickening; I\u2019ve been sick to my stomach since I heard about it.\u201d<\/p>\n Gerlach, who has said she slept in her car for months after getting a flat tire, said the decision to clear the encampment \u201cwill be a destruction to [residents\u2019] lives, to their mental health, to their recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n Residents at the encampment have long feared they would be displaced; \u201cthat fear escalated\u201d after Hyman filed his lawsuit, Gerlach said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe found $300,000 to have people walk around on Hamilton Street to help people back to their cars. If we can find $300,000 to do that, we damn sure can find money to make sure people have a safer place to live.”<\/p>\n Ce-Ce Gerlach, Allentown City Council<\/p>\n