GREENSBORO, N.C. — The City of Greensboro ticketed a vacant lot in the White Oak area twice and has now declared it a nuisance.
Neighbors have complained of trash and someone camping in a tent there.
Deanne O'Conner has owned her home in White Oak since 2009. She said it's the biggest investment she's ever made, there's just one problem, "we're a little bit… maybe a more than a little bit desperate just to get help," O'Conner said.
There's an empty lot in her neighborhood where homeless campers have been living, "this has kind of gotten out of control with the trash… and the human waste and the needles and the, all that kind of stuff," O'Conner said.
Overgrown grass, trash, and waste: it's the reason the City of Greensboro ticketed the vacant lot. People living there have 10 days to clean up before the city does it for them.
It's a complex situation. The primary camper has a connection to the land, it's owned by his deceased mother and his brother is the heir. Because of that, the city can't ban people from the property without his permission but they can't seem to find him, the heir of the property.
"The property is still in his mother's name, so that's the only place that he has, that he can live," Janice Harper said.
Some neighbors like Christopher Giampino said they're also concerned about safety, "my daughter has to walk by it everyday to go to school and she's scared. We have neighbors that have to actually watch her go to school and come back from school and it's something I have to think about everyday at work."
Patika Liggett said it sets a bad example for others looking to camp, "[it says to people] it's okay to camp here. It's okay to like, live here and not have any rules to go by."
Harper wishes people would just leave it alone. She said the campers aren't bothering anyone, especially the camper that has been living there the longest, "why not help him? Why not make sure he got something to eat?" Harper said while choking up.
Differing opinions about a problem that has no real solution in sight.
In the past, neighbors were calling the non-emergency police line, but those calls aren't documented.
Police are now asking neighbors to call 911 with complaints so there is a record of it.