Burlington officials can continue to clear the Sears Lane encampment, a Superior Court judge ruled, after an attempt by campers to stop the city’s action failed.
The campers’ argument in an ongoing lawsuit — that the city government had violated its policies by disbanding the camp — isn’t likely to succeed, Judge Samuel Hoar of Chittenden Superior Court wrote. As a result, the court couldn’t interfere with the city’s plans.
“Plaintiffs claim that the city has violated its ‘sheltering on public lands policy.’ They have not shown, however, that the policy creates any legally enforceable rights,” Hoar wrote.
According to Hoar, the campers could be awarded damages if they prove the city’s policy:
- Was an ordinance holding “the force of law;”
- Or, served as a contract between campers and the city;
- Or, mandated that the city act in a certain way.
Since the policy did not meet any of those three standards, the city was not under any obligation to follow it, meaning that the campers likely won’t win their lawsuit, Hoar said.
The ruling — which was signed Monday night and made public Tuesday — follows a hearing Oct. 28, at which Hoar sought to help the campers understand the city’s argument against them. The campers are representing themselves without an attorney.
In his decision, Hoar declined to say whether he approved of the city’s actions or its policy.
“Those are questions of policy that are properly committed to the political process and so are not a proper subject of judicial intervention,” the judge wrote.
Others have blasted the city’s move, including the city council’s six Progressives.
The Vermont chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union — whose 2019 settlement with Burlington about a similar dispute led to the policy that campers cited in their arguments — also denounced the city’s actions.
“We are disappointed in the court’s take on our settlement agreement with the city of Burlington and we are reviewing options,” ACLU-Vermont Executive Director James Duff Lyall wrote in an email. “All Burlington residents should be treated with respect and compassion, and both the city and the state need to adequately fund and implement services that address housing insecurity, poverty, mental health concerns, and substance use disorders.”
The policy in question states that, for city officials to disband a settlement on public land, there needs to be an “immediate health, safety, or ecological concern where significant harm has occurred or is likely to occur.”
In their defense against the campers’ suit, city officials submitted affidavits raising concerns about unsafe structures and the risk of fires at the site, though Mayor Miro Weinberger didn’t mention these issues in his Oct. 14 statement first signaling the camp’s closure.
At last week’s hearing, camp resident Grey Barreda argued that the city’s policy applied to individual dwellings, not to the entire encampment, and the city should have removed only residents who posed immediate harm to public safety.
The removal of the South End encampment has ignited a fiery debate about affordable housing in Burlington, and how to meet the needs of those without it.
Until last month, officials sought to treat the Sears Lane encampment as a less-than-ideal solution to a severe housing shortage. But after authorities arrested two residents of the camp on Oct. 13, Weinberger announced his intention to disband the camp by Oct. 19.
Facing backlash and allegations that the move was illegal, officials later extended how long campers could remain at the site, and offered them temporary housing and storage for their belongings.
Still, the city’s action prompted two campers — Barreda and Alexus Grundy — to file a civil complaint. The duo’s two requests for emergency relief prior to the Oct. 28 hearing were denied by Hoar, who said that the campers didn’t have enough legal basis to undo the camp’s removal.
While some campers received permission from the city to stay at the encampment beyond the Oct. 26 deadline, no one is currently living at the site, said Samantha Sheehan, a spokesperson for Weinberger.
The city installed fencing around the site last week to protect large items that campers were unable to move by Oct. 26, Sheehan said.
Barreda did not respond to an email asking for comment.
City Attorney Dan Richardson said the city is weighing whether to submit an answer to the campers’ initial complaint or file a motion to dismiss the suit. The deadline for them to respond is Nov. 15.
