Why a Private Landowner Is Fighting to Keep the Homeless on His Property
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
AKRON, Ohio — In the early days, Sage Lewis admits, the homeless encampment he allowed on his property was like “the wild, wild West.” Residents drank alcohol, built campfires and argued loudly. It smelled bad. Neighbors complained.
As the months passed, and as the campsite grew from a few people to a few dozen, Mr. Lewis said conditions improved. Drinking was banned, residents elected their own leaders and volunteers dropped off food and clothes. Mr. Lewis came to see the encampment as a model for using private land to help homeless people.
In city after city, homeless encampments have sprung up on sidewalks, in parks and under bridges, vexing local governments. In Akron, the rows of battered tents, some patched with tarps and rope, were erected on private property and with the landowner’s blessing. But where some see an altruistic effort to take a problem off the city’s hands, Akron officials see something else: a blatant zoning violation. They want the tents and the residents gone by Thanksgiving.
“This has always been a private person with private money on private land helping the homeless,” said Mr. Lewis, who filed a lawsuit Tuesday appealing the city’s refusal to exempt him from zoning rules, which ban camping. “I don’t want anything from the government. I don’t want any of that. We can take care of these people.”
Mr. Lewis, an auctioneer and the owner of a marketing business, has no experience in social work and never planned to be landlord to 40 or so homeless people
Mr. Lewis’s building, a large brick structure with rented office space, is off a busy street in a down-on-its-luck part of Akron that includes retail outlets and apartments but few houses.
At first, the campsite was informal and rowdy, a handful of tents in a semi-secluded patch of grass. As time passed, more tents sprung up and the camp became more structured. Homeless people washed their clothes, showered and socialized in the basement of Mr. Lewis’s building. Residents took turns picking up trash, conducting security patrols and vetting newcomers. And a question emerged: Was all this legal?
“From the beginning, we’ve been agnostic about the best way to help the homeless. It’s been the zoning issue we’ve been trying to navigate,” said Jason Segedy, Akron’s director of planning and urban development. “It’s not about whether he should be helping them. We’re all for that. It’s should they be helped inside, where it’s actually warm and safe, or in a tent?”
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