Hundreds of homeless people live where others work. It's not safe, sanitary or easily solved

The owner of global parts distributor Spaires Inc., Steve Brown, loves the location of his business off the 4300 block of North Palafox Street in Brent. He moved to this spot four years ago because it’s close to the interstate and the city, and he has room for his growing business's multiple warehouses.

A major downside, though, is the hundreds of homeless campers living nearby. The previous owner told Brown there was a problem with homeless in the area, but at the time it was minor. Now, that is no longer the case.

“There’s so much going on out there, prostitution, gunshots, so much that people feel uncomfortable coming back here,” Brown said. “As a boss, I feel uncomfortable making people stay late, especially in the winter when it gets dark early, because the girls have to get out and close the gate behind them, stuff like that.”

Brown’s business is one of many that borders or is near an area where an estimated 200–300 homeless individuals live. The majority are camping on vacant, county-owned land near the Escambia Wood Treating Company superfund site, while others have carved out campsites on private property near the Alfred Washburn Center outreach ministry.

Neighbors and property owners say the area has often been home to transients over the years, but recently the number of people has exploded. Many of the people ejected from a large homeless encampment under Interstate 1-110 in early 2022 made their way to Brent.

In case you missed it: Hundreds of homeless find refuge in Brent. Many of the 200 campsites came from I-110 camp.

Related: The clock's ticking to clean up grungy Brent homeless camp. So far, nothing's been done

“Probably three or four times a year we have to get somebody out of the warehouse who is on drugs,” said Brown. “They wander in. We just prosecuted two people, they went into one of our warehouses and left graffiti and stole a bunch of parts and we found them over in the woods.”

Brown, a father, said it’s to the point he worries about bringing his family to work or having clients come onto the property.

“Sometimes delivery drivers won’t come back there because they get accosted,” explained Brown. “My dad, the other day, was coming out here and there was a guy on drugs in the road telling him to stop and he wouldn’t get out of the road, so my dad had to go around him. They (Department of Defense) have to come out here and inspect parts sometimes and they’re like, ‘What the hell is going on out there?’ Anybody that comes out here is like, ‘What is that story?’

Other businesses are having similar problems. Some of those that front Palafox have tents and other temporary housing structures lined up along their back fences. Business owners say they regularly deal with a stream of troubles related to the campers.

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Peterson Precision Painting has repaired at least 10 holes in their fence where people have cut their way through. Company Vice President Chelsey Fowler said people appearing high or with mental illness often come on to their property, some want to use the bathroom, others want out of the rain and sometimes they wander through their business.

Fowler said they often keep their doors locked, especially when their children are with them, and they won’t get into their cars at night until they are sure no one is around outside.

Fowler said they’ve also cut power to their outside outlets to discourage the homeless from camping in front of their building at night to charge their phones. She said they burn noxious smelling fires, dig through their dumpster, use the dumpster as a bathroom and help themselves to water.

“It wouldn’t bother us if they had better manners,” said Fowler, “but they’ve thrown bricks at our workers in the back because we ask them to stop burning something or to stop hitting an animal. Their animals come over here all the time, their cats and dogs. One of the dogs pretty much lives here. I’ve taken her in. The biggest problem, I guess, we’ve had them break into our trucks during winter. If a truck’s left unlocked, they’ll sleep in it. They’ll steal stuff, I mean it has been sad.”

Next door at Pensacola Rubber and Gasket, owner Robert Bernhardt said he rarely comes to work without carrying his gun because he and his employees work at different times, day and night, and people who are seemingly high or mentally ill often approach them or walk around the property.

He has also been dealing with people tapping into his water lines.

“We have water meters, one that’s in the front and one that’s in the very back of the property that feeds irrigation and our water jet machine,” said Bernhardt. “They’ve broken into that, tapped into the water line there and ECUA they just keep fixing it and say there’s nothing they can do about it. They’ve had to do it two or three times. If they screw it up, I can’t run the machine.

“Two or so weeks ago, our front water spicket was tapped into,” he added. “I have never, ever denied any of those guys to come over and get jugs of water, I mean everybody’s got to have water to survive, but somebody broke the thing off and I came in and it was spraying everywhere. So, I got a plumber out here to pipe into the building and eliminate that hassle. If a thing’s costing me money, then I’ll make a decision for them.”

The business owners say they all sympathize with the plight of the homeless campers. Peterson Precision Painting even employs those who want to work, but the toll it’s taking on their businesses and quality of life is costing them time and money.

They say don’t see an end in sight unless local government and community leaders step in with a plan.

"There’s not a day that goes by that you don’t hear hammering and stuff," said Bernhardt. "I mean they’re building a city back there."

Why won't help arrive?

All three business owners say they have reached out to county and city officials looking for relief, but feel their concerns are being ignored.

Most of the homeless campers are on county and private land, but the city property line is nearby, and the business owners that border it say over the years, say they have called agencies from both governments, including police and fire, for issues related to the homeless and others.

Spaires has property on both city and county land and staff there say they’ve complained many times to both. They’ve literally put out fires that spread from homeless camps, and besides dealing with criminal behavior, they’ve seen lots of trash and illegal dumping.

“When we very first started, we were trying to get the dumping to stop and I complained about it so many times, the city just came and dropped off some dumpsters and then never emptied them,” said receptionist Stephanie Boals. “So that’s why if you drive out here, you’ll see all that trash on that ground. They’ve picked up the dumpsters, but now all of that trash just got left on the ground. Once they were full, they just started leaving it wherever.”

When the News Journal reported on how big the camps had grown in May, the county said the majority of the complaints they received against homeless campers were related to those on private property, from people who lived in the area. County officials said they received few complaints about the encampments on county property because it was mostly businesses nearby and they had lodged few complaints except over trash.

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However, the information previously provided only included code enforcement complaints. Calls to law enforcement over incidents in the area come in multiple times a day.

More than 1,000 calls to ECSO in last year

In the last year alone, the Escambia County Sheriff's Office has responded to 1,005 calls in the areas surrounding Alfred Washburn Center where transients go for help and services. They run the gamut: Baker Acts, man down, suicide threats, drug overdose, narcotics violation, suspicious person, missing person, armed disturbance, shots fired, battery, fights, trespassing, theft, stolen vehicle, warrant service, animal incidents, assisting medical and fire calls and more.

Not all the calls indicate whether or not they're related to campers, but the majority are listed as happening on or near the roads where the camps are located, including Brentwood Elementary School and Alfred Washburn Center.

A break down of the numbers provided by the Sheriff's Office reveal that over the past year there have been nearly 200 calls to addresses on Murphy Lane where Alfred Washburn Center is located, including for armed disturbance, warrant service and trespassing; 165 calls to a gas station on Palafox that is between Beggs Lane and Alfred Washburn Center with complaints including nearly 50 trespassing calls, petit thefts and other disturbances; over 100 calls to Beggs Lane and surrounding streets for complaints like trespassing, armed disturbance, Baker Act, man down, and abandoned and suspicious vehicle; and 35 calls to Brentwood Elementary School with complaints ranging from armed suspicious person, lewd and indecent exposure, and other disturbances.

On Friday, May 26, Escambia Sheriff's deputies say a 16-year-old boy was shot in the head near Murphy Lane. He was taken to the hospital where he died of his injuries. Deputies say the teenager and another 16-year-old had attempted to buy methamphetamine at the nearby homeless camp before being told nobody at the camp had any. Deputies say the shooting started when the teens threatened to rob others at the camp and deputies say one of the people shot back in self-defense.

In January, a 53-year-old homeless woman died in a fire after witnesses say a candle was knocked over in her tent. Two other campers nearby were injured trying to help her. They were all living in an encampment near the city/county line and not far from the businesses that have been raising concerns to government agencies.

Steve Brown, owner of the parts distribution company, said they’ve all but given up expecting any help.

“We have no recourse and we’ve been complaining to the county — letters, calls, voicemails — and we’re just ghosted, nothing,” said Brown. “So, we just stopped in 2021. We’re like, 'We’re not getting any response,' so we just started documenting. The police told us to start documenting it.”

Peterson Precision Painting owner Randy Peterson wrote a letter to Pensacola’s City Neighborhoods Administrator in March, with additional information from Bernhardt of Pensacola Rubber and Gasket, about the dire situation. They included pictures and drone video taken of the crowded encampments behind them and nearby.

“We have spent countless money, time, effort, and energy on trying to make our place of business as professional and safe as we can.” Peterson wrote to the city. “We have numerous occasions where these persons walk into our business and harass our employees…Aside from these aspects also comes sanitation and behavioral issues. We have had numerous bones (that look like human remains) thrown over our fences…we constantly smell waste from outside toileting… We also have pictures of a local school not even five businesses down where there are homeless persons camped out not even 500 feet from a crosswalk for young children.

“Lastly, it’s appalling that more is not being done for the safety of our businesses and community,” Peterson said. “I understand there are issues everywhere with homeless persons, but just picking random locations to ‘hide’ them is not fair to the business people that are having to deal with it daily.”

A public records request for the letter and information Peterson sent Powell also showed the city administrator’s response.

“Thank you,” Lawrence Powell replied to Peterson’s email on March 14, 2023. “I have made a call to Sheriff (Chip) Simmons and Commissioner (Lumon) May and will be working with their outreach teams to see how we can collaborate on potential resolutions. As you know this is primarily county proper, but homelessness has no boundaries.”

After that, Fowler said no one ever followed up with them from the county or the city.

When reached for comment about the situation with homeless campers near the city/county line and calls for service there, Mayor D.C. Reeves declined to discuss it, saying he needed to “better understand the request.”

He also said he would not comment on the letter because he hadn’t seen it, although he is copied on Powell’s reply to Peterson and Fowler about his concerns.

“I don’t have a public comment on this because I don’t comment on business owner complaints I haven’t seen yet or read — so I just don’t know what I’m being asked,” said Reeves. “Perhaps when you have this data there is something more concrete I can address, and I’ll be happy to do so at that time.”

Escambia County Commissioner Lumon May, who represents the district where the campers are congregating, said he has heard from people who live and work in Brent about the homeless there and other locations in his district.

"Whenever they called me I said, 'What do you want me to do?' (They say) 'Come move them.' Well, ask law enforcement," May said. "The county, we can’t come out and make anybody move off your property. We don’t have that type of jurisdiction."

Sheriff Chip Simmons said the sheriff’s office responds to calls as they arise, but they can only do so much, as long as the county and other property owners allow those who are homeless to live on their land. He said they can't address the situation unless they're asked to do it.

In this instance, Escambia County owns the property where the homeless are camping and county leaders are not calling for the homeless campers to go.

“The whole issue that we deal with on Beggs Lane and on the Brent park is who owns the property and what we can do,” said Simmons. “My thoughts are always with the victims of crimes, so if you’re the victim of a crime you call us, we will respond. If that response means we settle a dispute, that’s fine. If that response means, we arrest an aggressor that’s fine. If that response means we remove a trespasser, we will do that, but that’s really all our involvement is and should be from a law enforcement perspective. If you own property and you allow them to stay there and they’re out of sight, and we don’t get a call from a victim, then there’s not much law enforcement can do.”

How long will Escambia County let them stay?

According to May the question of how long they’re going to be allowed to stay is a “million dollar question.”

“To do nothing is not the answer,” said May. “What to do is the question. I think we have to work together as a community to figure it out. It’s great if someone refers back to the commissioner because it’s his district, unfortunately no one commissioner, no one governor, and no one president, is going to have the answers to homelessness.”

However, doing nothing except moving the homeless around is what residents and business owners say has gotten the situation to this point. They say the fact that county and city leaders haven’t addressed their concerns is discouraging and ignoring the issue and allowing the campsites to grow is not the answer, either.

In case you missed it: Pensacola's top homelessness agency "on the fence" about following federal recommendations

In March, a county magistrate ordered the clean up of private property in the same area where a large number of homeless are living, near Alfred Washburn Center. The property owner, Collier Merrill, said he wants to do right by the campers, as well as the residential neighbors who have similar complaints to the business owners, and abide by the order.

That would essentially end up moving the homeless off his property. Advocates and county leaders have been reluctant for him to act on the order because of the challenges it would bring, but say they're working with Merrill on a plan to address it that includes case management. A timeline isn't clear.

Even if the campers move, there's nothing to stop them from coming back, something they are likely to do since services including showers, food and medical are being provided for them at the nearby Alfred Washburn Center. County leaders and neighbors say church groups and others often bring food to the Brent campers, as well, so there is little incentive for them to leave.

Some neighbors and business owners say they feel like hostages to a problem that is a political hot potato. They believe local leaders are reluctant to act because they don’t know what to do about the situation and they're trying to avoid other problems moving them would bring, like clashes with other transients.

May said he’s in a tough spot. He said moving homeless campers out of Brentwood Park a couple of months ago brought headaches and he’s facing the same pressure over the other homeless camps.

“We get beat up no matter what,” said May. “Mike Kimberl (Alfred Washburn Center director) beats me up because we’re moving people out of Brentwood Park because we’re going to put a tax collector’s office there, but we’re still going to have a nice park. Then I talk to the teachers at Brentwood Elementary and they say, ‘We can’t take our kids to the park because all the homeless people have dogs.’ So, when you move the people from there you get beat up because you’re not sympathizing with the homeless. You don’t move them off, then the moms and dads and educators are upset because the children can’t use the park. It’s a bad situation.”

A situation that neighbors and business owners worry will only get worse if it is allowed to go on like this.

“They need help, whether it’s at a shelter, they don’t need to be out here,” said Fowler. “I know they tried under the interstate for a while, but the other thing is they don’t care. They trash everything. The amount of trash I see, it drives me crazy.”

Brown said, “We’ve been asking the county, 'Can you put up no dumping signs? Can you do something about the situation?' The cops come and say you’re going to have press charges against these people and I felt bad about it at first but something has to be done. Nobody really wants to do anything about it.”

With no plans on the table to make the situation better, business owners fear it will only get worse.

“My take on this homeless situation is it’s just a matter of time before something more is going to happen,” said Bernhardt. “Whether they try to break into the building or whether they mess with whatever we have in the back of the shop. It’s just a matter of time.”

Coming Tuesday in Pensacola News Journal and pnj.com: Growing homeless camp is a 'powder keg.' Can we unite to find a solution?

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola homeless camp off Beggs lanes hurting business