ORMOND BEACH, Fla. — The city of Ormond Beach has cleaned up a bus stop where several of the city’s homeless were sleeping.
Not only did workers remove the trash, but they also removed the park benches.
There were four small areas on North Thompson Creek Road and each contained a park bench.
Five days after the city received a picture of homeless people sleeping there, the benches were gone.
The pictures, which were taken by an Ormond Beach resident, shows blankets and bags of garbage on the ground, and a homeless person sleeping on a bench near a bus stop.
Kateria McDonnell said she would often see homeless people camped out in the mornings as she rode her bike to work.
“And it was starting to look a little dumpy,” she said.
Any remains of the homeless people staying there are gone.
In an email, city officials said, “Practice has shown that one bench near the curb is adequate to service the bus stop. If demands in the future change, the need for additional benches will be revisited.”
In another email, the city said it removed the benches on Jan. 17, five days after they were notified about a problem at a bus stop.
People who shop at a plaza across the street said they didn’t mind the homeless people, but the aggressive panhandling has been getting to be too much.
“It’s very uncomfortable. It’s a bad situation,” said Ormond Beach resident John Pemberton.
In Ormond Beach, some believe removing benches is not a permanent solution.
“The city ought to look at this problem they have and address the problem,” said resident Michael Dickerson.
As for the people who were sleeping there, it’s not clear where they have moved.
Cox Media Group
