Multiple homeless people lost tents, beds and other belongings Thursday morning after their campsites in Broadway Park north of the Gandy Dancer restaurant were removed with a skid steer loader and backhoe by Amtrak workers contracted by the Michigan Department of Transportation.
The equipment used for the removal belonged to Amtrak, which is in charge of railroad maintenance, Jeff Cranson, director of communications at MDOT, said.
Timothy Green, an organizer of Camp Misfit, an advocacy group for Ann Arbor's homeless, said between 10 and 15 people had their possessions destroyed the crews when they cleared the campsites.
Five campsites that were in the woods near the railroad tracks in Broadway Park were removed.
Kari Arend, spokesperson for MDOT, said those living in the woods were told to vacate the area more than two weeks ago, because they were on MDOT's land.
Lisa Wondrash, spokeswoman for the city of Ann Arbor, confirmed that notices were posted on tents or encampments on June 26 which stated that, per city code, it was illegal to camp in the park, and doing so was punishable by $500 fine.
Wondrash said that Ann Arbor Police were notified of the illegal encampments, and those in the area were given 48 hours notice before their belongings would be removed.
"This notice also was paired with information provided by the Project Outreach Team regarding assistance and transitional housing opportunities," Wondrash said in an email.
"Today, park staff worked with MDOT staff to clean the sites and dispose of any items left behind after the notice period had expired."
Green thought the homeless were camping legally if they set up their tents more than 50 feet away from the train tracks.
Based on Camp Misfit's understanding of maps displaying land ownership around Broadway Park, there was unowned land between property owned by the city and land owned by MDOT.
"We thought they were going to be left alone," Green said.
Sabra Briere, city council representative for Ward 1, which encompasses Broadway Park, said she provided Camp Misfit officials with maps of the city park boundaries to illustrate where the homeless could not stay.
She told Camp Misfit that "If they [the homeless] relocate within the parks, they'd be removed," she said.
To her knowledge, there was no spot between Broadway Park and MDOT owned land where the homeless could legally camp.
Arend said the homeless were "definitely on MDOT property," which is why they were told to leave.
To prevent the homeless from moving from MDOT property into city-owned land in Broadway Park, Arend said MDOT coordinated with the city to notify the homeless that there wasn't any unowned land where they could camp between the rails and the river.
Green said after receiving the notices, those living in the park cleaned up the area by removing dozens of garbage bags full of trash and litter, and it seemed they would be able to stay.
The homeless weren't bothering anyone, he said, and their campsites were hidden in the woods.
Mat Chavez, 32, and his wife, Danielle, 29, and George Bryant, 34, lost their tents, beds and some clothing when the machines went through their campsite located a few hundred feet east of the Gandy Dancer.
Chavez grabbed his backpack and guitar before his campsite was bulldozed.
"Anything I could not grab in 10 minutes" was lost to the crew, Chavez said.
"This isn't even what it looked like," he said, gesturing to the open space and bare dirt where trees and foliage had been removed. "We were hidden."
Five spots along the tracks looked the same as the trio's former camp, tire tracks fresh in the dirt.
Tracey Williams, who works with Camp Misfit and Ann Arbor MISSION, also a homeless advocacy group, dropped a balled-up tarp at Chavez's feet and told him he could borrow it until he found a new tent.
"Right," Chavez said, "but where do I put it?"
Those who were living in the campsites gathered what was left of their belongings near the riverbank in Broadway Park to speak with Briere after MDOT and Ann Arbor Police officers left the area.
The Chavezes, Bryant and multiple other homeless men and women voiced their anger, stating that the safe zone they thought existed in the woods was the only place they had to camp in the city.
There is "no legal place for people to camp here," Briere said to the group. "I can't say 'yes, you can camp on MDOT property,' I can't say 'yes, you can camp on city property,' because neither of those things are true."
Chavez said the city needs to find a solution, because there aren't enough beds for all the homeless in the city at the Delonis Center, and most do not qualify for the housing the city offers.
"I won't have a place to go at night," Chavez told Briere.
"I don't have a solution," Briere said.
Green said he and Camp Misfit are trying to work with the city to set up a tent city on property owned by a member of Camp Misfit, but there hasn't been any progress made.
"If the only place in this world you have is a tent" and that's taken away, he said, "where do you go?"
He added: "If the city won't help us, move out of the way and let us help ourselves."
Briere told the group she understood their frustration, but there was nothing that could be immediately done.
"There's no legal place for you to go" camp, she said. "For me to suggest that you go somewhere else would be immoral," be cause she knew they would be evicted.
"There is no current solution in the city," she said. "The demand to help the homeless is enormous, so enormous that it becomes crippling," for the city.
This is the second homeless encampment in just over two years that's been removed by MDOT.
Camp Take Notice was was evicted from MDOT property off Wagner Road in Scio Township in June 2012.
The Ann Arbor Police, who were on-site when MDOT came through to clean up the area Thursday morning, could not immediately be reached for comment.
Ian Thibodeau is an intern reporter for The Ann Arbor News. He can be reached at ithibode@mlive.com.