Judge Says Tent City’s Homeless Can Stay For The Time Being

A Judge in Toms River today refused to close down Tent City until both sides could come to some sort of an agreement. Judge Joseph Foster asked that both sides come up with proposals to end the lawsuit once and for all. The judge said he understands both sides, and says that although he doesn’t want them evacuated immediately, the homeless can’t expect the Township or the County not to say ‘enough is enough’.

The judge said however, that Lakewood and Ocean County do have some sort of an obligation to care for the poor, but said he did not know if he could force Lakewood or the County to continue providing services for them.

The Judge expects both sides to come up with an agreement. TLS.

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31 COMMENTS

  1. Before you know it there will be no trees left. They chop it down and use it for firewood. From what I understand they have other options but stay there nevertheless.

  2. hey mister toms river judge! let em move to your backyard- or half a block away! I have to deal with stinky stinky smokey air every evening as these people burn who-knows-what! Move them somewhere sanitary, safe and nice…i agree they should have a shelter, for sure!! HOWEVER, the way it is now is NO WAY TO Live – FOR THEIR NEIGHBORS, it’s not right!! If I knew this “tent city” existed before moving to this neighborhood, i wouldn’t have moved here! Absolutely disgusting, any normal Town/City would have moved these people out a long time ago – THIS WOULDN’T FLY ANYWHERE ELSE!

  3. …not to mention the Major danger of a fire getting out of control! I shudder to think how quickly a fire could spread in these dry woods…. Very Irresponsible! Disgusting. I’m getting outa lakewood as soon as possible!

  4. YAY Judge! So many people are complaining but not willing to help and make a change. No on complains when some one has their fireplace burning and causing the same smell. Lakewood has plenty other eye sores, much more noticeable to the public then Tent City!

  5. way to dodge doing your job , you are a judge mr foster. you are paid to make decissions . sometimes hard decissions. what are we paying you for ? do your job and make a decission. if the two sides could have come up with a comprimise dont you think they would have already. stop trying to pass the buck and stand up for somthing…. this is just disgusting . Judge Foster! you should be imbarassed .

  6. Hullo? There IS a county shelter. But these people do not want to abide by its rules. They want their alchohal and marijana. They do not want to conform to the rules of the shelter.

    Wake up and smell the coffee. They are not in the woods becuase they have no place to go. They are in the woods becuase they want their freedom to do what they want and not adhere to the rules and regulations of the County Shelter.

  7. To are you for real?- What shelter are you talking about? The one in Atlantic County that Ocean County keeps shipping them to? You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about and its ignorance like yours that poison the human nature.

  8. 7. The homeless don’t cut any of the trees down for any reason, but every construction company that builds these duplexes that is making Lakewood over populated cuts down hundreds of trees a year. I don’t see people complaining about that.

    14. I guess either you don’t have children in public school or you don’t have any children at all. You can’t put homeless in public school gyms because then there would be no where for the public school children to exercise. Why not just use the private Schools there are plenty of them in Lakewood and most of the children are outside during free time anyway.

    15. I would like to know where you think there is a shelter in Ocean County because every Social Services person I have ever had to deal with and that other people have dealt with send people to Atlantic City and last time I checked AC was not in ocean county.

  9. # 15 Now dont get me wrong, i’m not crazy about this ruling but where is this county shelter located?. The board of social services will put people up in motels, ie: the Moon motel . That place on rt 70 is mostly for those out of treatment programs.

  10. to are you for real? please tell me where this county shelter for Ocean County is? Because when people who are homeless go to Ocean County Board of Social Services they are sent to Camden or Atlantic city for a shelter. Ocean County does not have a shelter for homeless people, you might want to get your facts straight before you comment. Monmouth County has one.

  11. 7. I will say again like a poster before me that they don’t cut down the trees for fire wood, more trees are cut down every year in Lakewood by developers building the hundreds of duplexes every year in Lakewood.

    14. You can’t put the homeless in the public school gyms because the gyms are used by the children every day.

    15. If there are shelters in Ocean County you need to tell Ocean County Social Services where they are because they tell every one who calls for housing help to go to Atlantic City for a shelter (thats why they are being sued) and last I checked Atlantic City was in Atlantic county not Ocean county.

  12. The problem has to do with Lakewood’s rapid population growth in recent years. According to the census department, Lakewood’s population increased more than 50% between 2000 and 2010. Lakewood is the fastest growing community in New Jersey. Unfortunately, job growth and the housing supply have not kept pace.

  13. #18
    You compare the possibility of them chopping trees down to developers doing the same?! FYI, the developers BUY the land before they take trees down!
    Pretty soon some judge will order the county to pave roads for them leading into their “city”.
    They have been offered shelter in Seaside Heights but they have refused. This is well known.

  14. I dont understant so if thers a shelter in atlantic city why cant they move there why in the world do they have to live here! they obviously dont have jobs so no reason to stay here!

  15. askan4u- so you agree with shipping them off to another county just because ours refuses to do anything? its a pretty sad state of affairs when people close their eyes to the needless suffering of others

  16. So because a developer pays for the land that mean I must “pay” because they want to build ugly duplex’s all over LakeWOOD. I mean might as well just take out wood from the name of the town because there is not much left.

  17. To Lakewood Resident : Were is well known that the 70 to 80 people in Tent City have been offered residence in Seaside Heights and turned it down. I have read all the local papers and seen most of the television reports and I have never heard or read this.
    To askan4u. Your question should be: Why is there not a shelter in Ocean County to take care of these people? The Atlantic City shelter recently filed a 2.2 million dollar law suit against Ocean County for the cost of taking care of the Ocean County homeless. They can no longer afford to do this. Why do you say they obviously dont have jobs when many of them work everyday?

  18. replying to Question????

    I didnt realize theres a lawsuit against Ocean County! Just how can these homeless be part of Ocean County arent they HOMELESS! I assumed they dont have jobs cause any basic job should be able to afford something better than a tent!

  19. To askan4u: Each county is supposed to provide for its own population. Ocean County has been sending its homeless to AC and paying them 17,500 per year which does not even come close to the actual cost. Thus the lawsuit
    In 2009 The State of New Jersey has enacted the “County Homelessness Trust Fund Act,” P.L. 2009, c.123, codified at NJSA 52:27D-287a et seq. which authorizes county governments to create county homelessness prevention trust funds and authorizes county-operated programs to meet the needs of homeless individuals and families. This new law allows a county in its own discretion to required the payment of a $3.00 fee on each document recorded in order to fund a County war chest for homelessness initiatives.Thus far, only nine (9) Counties which have began to or announced their intention to charge the $3.00 fee on every document delivered to its County Clerk’s Office for recording. Ocean county refuses to do so stating it is already doing everything possisle for the homeless.
    Good jobs are very limited and hard to find for those who can find jobs at 7.25 (NJ min wage) it is just not enough to live on). You do the math and see if $290 per week minus taxes pays for a place to live ,gas electric water , food, clothing, car ,gas & Insurance or transporation

  20. Hey, askan4u:
    Have you looked at the job market? Have you looked at the wages offered $10/hr to a max of $15/hr for unskilled labour which is the jobs you want them to take. Now go to your local news paper and look at the rents that are being charged and tell us how far $15 before taxes will go.

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