Lakewood municipal officials are trying to put an end to an ongoing situation in which upwards of 40 people are living in two tent encampments. PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF LAKEWOOD TOWNSHIP LAKEWOOD — For about three years, a group of between 30 and 40 people have made their home on two pieces of land that are owned by Lakewood. Municipal officials recently filed a lawsuit in state Superior Court in an effort to regain control of the two properties.
“We are doing this for the protection of not only Lakewood residents, the community at large and the property, but for the very people who occupy these premises, because it’s unsafe, unsanitary and unregulated,” Mayor Steven Langert said in a statement released by the township. “This is not only bad for Lakewood and for all the residents. It’s bad for the inhabitants” of the tent encampments.
One tent community is at Cedar Bridge Avenue and Clover Street, and the second tent community is near Route 88 and the railroad tracks.
In a photograph supplied by Lakewood municipal officials, toilet facilities are shown at one of the township’s tent encampments. According to the statement, representatives of the Ocean County Board of Human Services have visited the two tent encampments to offer the people who are living there help in finding alternate housing. Counseling, food stamps and other forms of assistance were also provided to the residents.
Lakewood officials hired Solutions to End Poverty Soon (STEPS), a nonprofit organization, to help find housing for the residents of the two tent camps.
Despite the township’s efforts, the residents have refused the assistance that has been offered to them, Langert said.
“They are refusing the help we want to give them. Unfortunately, we now have to resort to legal means to compel them to accept our help and to protect this environmentally sensitive area,” the mayor said.
Lakewood officials have filed a lawsuit in an attempt to regain control of townshipowned land that has be converted into a home by dozens of people. PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF LAKEWOOD TOWNSHIP Officials said they have determined that the tent encampment sites are unsafe because they rely on untested water sources and because various kinds of debris are present. They also believe that the area’s environment needs to be protected.
The Rev. Steven Brigham of the Lakewood Outreach Ministry Church does not agree with the township’s assessment of the situation.
“It is extremely clean and organized. There is no litter at all,” Brigham said. “All the basic necessities of life are met. It really is affordable housing.”
For 10 years, Brigham has assisted individuals who have found themselves living in difficult situations.
Commenting on the township’s legal action, he said, “It’s disturbing to myself and the people living there. The motives [of the township] are not to help the people.”
Langert said the residents of the tent encampments will not be put out on the street.
“Lakewood has begun the steps to protect and provide a safe environment for the homeless. It’s unfortunate that it had to be done through litigation, but this needs to be done in order ensure that protections are afforded to everybody,” the mayor said.