Unhoused residents living in an encampment on Kalamazoo’s eastside were given a reprieve last week from a scheduled closure.
That reprieve ended today.
Public safety officers cordoned off the area and told residents to leave.
Jon Lenard and Mike Edwards say they didn’t know police officers would kick them off the property today.
“And then all the sudden they just come in here, 9 o’clock in the morning, just kick everybody out, telling ‘em we’ve got 5-minutes to leave.”
“Yeah, we were still asleep. We just woke up to all of this. Just booted us out like that.”
But the city says residents had ample warning of the closure. Last week workers removed tanks of water for cleaning, and portable toilets. About 50 people were thought to be left when the evictions began. In a statement the city said there had been no arrests. The tents were located on a brownfield scheduled for cleanup in the coming weeks.
Cars left on the property after the evictions were impounded. Kalamazoo Public Safety says campers should contact McDonald Towing to get them back.