Class Action Seeks to Stave Off Burlington (VT) Clearing Wooded Homeless Camping Areas

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Three plaintiffs have filed a proposed class action lawsuit against the City of Burlington in Vermont that takes issue with its alleged forcible removal of homeless individuals who camp in “out-of-the-way” areas of woods owned by the city, and aims to stop the clearing of these ostensibly remote encampments off North Avenue since the much of the city’s homeless population, the suit says, have no other alternative for shelter.

“The plaintiffs have attempted to access emergency shelter and have repeatedly been turned away because those shelters are full,” the complaint claims. “According to the city’s policy, practice, and ordinances these individuals cannot lawfully sleep or shelter anywhere within [Burlington] limits.”

The lawsuit alleges that to remove the plaintiffs and proposed class members, the city threatens homeless individuals “with arrest for trespassing and with seizure of any personal property remaining on city property” if camping areas are not vacated by a certain date. The plaintiffs, who, the case says, are homeless, argue the situation for proposed class members with nowhere else to go is becoming increasingly dire as the seasons change. 

“The city has served warnings and notices on multiple homeless encampments on the city’s remote wooded property, including plaintiffs’ pursuant to [state law],” the case reads. “Despite the fact that winter and cold weather are fast approaching, the city has not provided shelter or other alternatives for [the plaintiffs] and members of the putative class. Instead, the city has threatened them with arrest, and the seizure and destruction of their property.”

The full complaint can be read below.