LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – As concerns surrounding a Boulder Highway homeless encampment grow, the owner of one of those lots is sharing his perspective on the issue.
The encampment is spread across about 40 acres of privately owned property off Boulder Highway and Russell Road.
Over the last month, business owners have expressed frustrations with the growing encampment.
“They come and harass customers. They come and beg for money, they come into the store, they grab anything they want, they walk away,” the owner of FlowerEve Gift and Home Evelyn Guin says.
“The trash that they bring, and what my employees have to clean up from the trash back there is weekly, it’s just constant. The wind blows, and the trash comes in here,” said another nearby business owner, Dave.
According to a Clark County mapping website, one of the lots is owned by the Las Vegas YMCA, who did not respond to FOX5s requests for comment.
The co-founder of the group that manages the second lot in question, Mike Ballard, asks for the community’s patience as they work to develop a roughly 300-unit senior living facility.
“As landowners, and I think I speak for land owners for the community and for the country, we’re trying,” Ballard says.
Ballard says they spend thousands of dollars per year to keep the property cleared.
He says the fencing around the property gets torn down, and “no trespassing” signs are ripped off faster than they can be prepared.
Although they face similar issues with other properties they own throughout the Valley, he says this property is the most difficult to manage.
“The reason why this is, is there’s a church across the street that is doing God’s work in so many ways, and they’re feeding the homeless,” Ballard says. “And, so the homeless like to stay near where they can get regular meals.”
FOX5 reached out to a representative of the nearby church who says they decline to comment at this time.
Since 2020, Clark County Code Enforcement has opened almost 30 cases for homeless encampments between both lots.
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