BURLINGTON — Opposition is growing to Burlington officials’ announcement last week that they will stop people from living in an encampment on a city-owned lot in the South End.
About 60 people gathered in front of City Hall on Sunday afternoon to protest the decision.
Stephen Marshall, a former resident of the camp and an advocate for people without housing, was among the speakers who addressed the crowd, including several Sears Lane encampment residents.
“When somebody shows up on Church Street with a gun, do they shut down Church Street? No they do not!” Marshall, 66, shouted in an energetic voice, drawing murmurs of agreement and applause.
Burlington officials said Thursday that residents of the Sears Lane encampment — advocates against homelessness say there are somewhere from 20 to 30 people living there — need to clear out by Tuesday.
The decision marked a change in policy from Mayor Miro Weinberger, who recently made moves to accommodate campers, including the addition of a dumpster for residents to dispose of waste, and an effort to install safety features on the parcel.
But two incidents on Wednesday sparked the change in policy, Weinberger said.
Authorities raided the camp that day to arrest Robert Renner, 49, as part of a “months-long narcotics investigation,” police said in a statement. Officers said they found Renner in possession of multiple weapons and drugs.
Police allege that Michael Bessette, 30, pointed a pellet gun at firefighters later that day as they responded to a medical emergency.
Because of those events, “it is clear that the encampment at Sears Lane has become untenable and unacceptable,” Weinberger said in a statement.
Residents of the encampment are contesting Weinberger’s evaluation, and plan to file a stay of eviction against the city in Chittenden Superior Court, said Marshall, the former Sears Lane resident who spoke at the protest.
Marshall, who said he still occasionally spends nights at the camp, said he was acting on advice from Jay Diaz, general counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union’s Vermont chapter.
“It’s really important to me that Sears Lane camp remains available for homeless people to occupy when they need to,” Marshall said on Sunday.
Several residents said the camp’s disbandment would be unfair, saying that only a few people at the site do anything illegal.
Sarino Macri, who told VTDigger he’s lived at the Sears Lane camp for 14 months, said he hasn’t witnessed any illegal behavior at the encampment. None of his belongings have ever been stolen, he said.
“My message is clear: community without criminal activity,” Macri said in an interview.
Macri said he doesn’t know where he’ll sleep Tuesday night if the camp gets dispersed—perhaps at ANEW Place, a local shelter.
But the city’s shelters are already full, said Julie Macuga, 29, of Burlington, who spoke at the protest.
“I don’t know where they think people are going to go, especially in the winter,” Macuga told the crowd.
Macuga encouraged attendees to show up at Monday evening’s city council meeting and share their opposition to the camp’s closure.
Two city councilors attended the protest on Sunday: Joe Magee, P-Ward 3, and Max Tracy, P-Ward 2, the council’s president. Both declined to comment to VTDigger.
In a statement issued Friday afternoon, Magee said of the city’s decision: “It is unrealistic to think that disbanding the encampment without other housing resources in place will lead to greater public safety.”
“In all likelihood, this action will shift these issues to another part of the city, without addressing the underlying conditions that got us here in the first place,” the statement continued.
Some protesters plan to gather at the Sears Line site on Tuesday afternoon — the date by which residents are supposed to gather their belongings and leave — for a barbecue.