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| The "shanty-town" (pictured 2-1-23) homeless encampment groing on Mobile Hwy at Michigan Avenue in Escambia County is drawing the ire of citizens that want something done to clean it up...... |
He's obviously fed up with what he is seeing in his neighborhood off of Scenic Highway where, right next to the Dairy Queen/Gas station off of the exit and very near dozens of multi-million dollar homes and properties, there is a fledgling pop-up encampment growing right off the side of the road.
"They are so brazen, they have even brought a couch and placed it right on the side of the road on Scenic Highway--they are sitting on it and eye-balling us as we sit in traffic--it's ridiculous!"
He is heated. He wants action, he wants this blight to be addressed by the county. He is not alone, either, because we have had multiple issues come up over the last year or so, and this issue seems to be growing, not subsiding....
Like issues in my district where we had a massive forest fire erupt that could have taken out an entire subdivision off of Hwy 98 due to a campfire in a homeless camp getting out of control in the adjacent wooded property.
Like what the city dealt with under the I-110 bridge where drug use, crime, theft, prostitution, and other illicit activity was rampant until the city disbursed that campground.
Like what we are seeing on Herman Street....Like what we saw under the bridge on Brent Lane...
And like what we are now seeing in an area off of Mobile Hwy (Formerly D1, now D3) Where a group of about 9 homeless individuals have sent up a miniature "shanty-town" right in the FDOT easement of Mobile Hwy------directly in front of the Publix Grocery store there and multiple small businesses. I have had numerous complaints about this from multiple citizens.
Something has to be done. This isn't Portland, this isn't Seattle nor is it San Franscisco. And we don't
