Thank you for using 311GNV to notify the City of Gainesville of this issue. The Office of the City Manager is in receipt of your service request and we have forwarded this issue to the Gainesville Police Department. We will notify you of any significant status updates and when the issue has been resolved.

Unfortunately, the City of Gainesville is unable to resolve this issue and this service request has been closed. The "tent city" you reported is not "back" in that location, it has been there for about 18 years. The Gainesville Police Department (GPD) says that the owners of the property are aware of the camp and have no issues with them being there. GPD has had no issues either but monitors the camp. If you have additional questions or comments, please contact Captain Ferrara at 393-7517 or ferraraam@cityofgainesville.org. Thank you for using 311GNV to help make Gainesville a better place to live, work, and play!

This is an area of Gainesville that does not allow people to live in an RV parked in a yard, So, why are we allowing people to live without sanitary sewage and water? This should be violation of city zoning. Best Buy management indicated they didn't like the residents living there.

The are living on part of a creek that originally had several small spring that have been capped under the parking lot of Lowes as well as across the street up to Burlington Coat Factory. The creek bed should have been uncovered and restored.

This is also a problem that started when the city quit enforcing environmental set backs and buffers between commercial and residential properties.

We might as well air the fact that the property owner wants to sell the area to the City. The city should not have to purchase the area that is not suitable to build on.

Next there is an ordinance DEP , EPA and water management that residences have to be a certain setback from groundwater, creeks and streams.

So, instead of closing this complaint it needs to be addressed in many areas and reported back as resolved.

Office of the City Manager 2 assigned this issue to Code Enforcement Department (Primary)

Code Enforcement Department 3 assigned this issue to Dignity Village Project Manager

Code Enforcement Officer Jeff Look visited this campsite today and found a very small, isolated camp, away from the creek. There is no City code violation, and again, unless the property owner wants to kick trespassers off his/her property, there is no violation the City can enforce. Based on what he saw, Mr. Look didn't feel there was DEP or EPA violation either. However, if you would like to speak with him directly to ensure that he was at the correct location, please call him at 352-316-4540 (Mon-Thurs, 7am-6pm). Thank you. This issue is closed.

Amazing that the telephone conversation with Mr Look was opposite what is written here. He indicated he would forward the complaint to DEP and the Health Department then he laughed at me.

It seems if the city isn't requiring proper sanitation for camping that the commission needs to get on board and enforce state regulations.

If you are not going to protect the watershed that is included along Hogtown Creek they you best post signs that the water may have human fecal matter in it. Then we as a community need to enforce some protection of our watershed. The water traveling down Hog Town Creek flowed toward a sink hole and the pollutants are then mixed into the aquifer and pumped out again by residents to the south west of Gainesville.

Camping requires proper sanitation, potable water supply.
A homeowner running a campground for the public must meet zoning and sanitation requirements.
Mr. Look doesn't feel that is necessary.

Please resolve this issue not just close a case. If necessary the residents of Gainesville need to call for action with the city commission so prior to closing please have a hearing scheduled for the public. The land is not zoned as a campground so it needs to meet zoning.

Office of the City Manager 2 assigned this issue to Office of the City Manager 2

We have been looking into this matter to find a reasonable solution. However, Mr. Look was correct that the campsite does not break any of the City's zoning ordinances. The City has jurisdiction over specific areas of municipal life; sometimes issues are handled instead by the county, state or federal government, or a combination of organizations. In addition to Mr. Look's referral to the DEP, the City of Gainesville Public Works staff is checking with DEP about possible violations. We will post more as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience.

Update: Managers from the City, County, and DEP met recently and have plans for site visits to encampments around town to check for environmental violations. Property owners will be contacted or cited and campers may be trespassed, as appropriate for each site.

Thank you to whomever reported this and for Mr. McFarlane's observations. The protection of surface watersheds and groundwater are important to both environmental and public health. Innocent actions may have damaging results. I trust all parties will resolve any issues quickly.

This issue is continuing to be addressed.