Seven people have been arrested from a Gainesville homeless encampment recently as authorities worked to clear the site of a land swap between a state agency and a local business.
A release from the Hall County Sheriff's Office Tuesday said law enforcement was contacted by the Georgia Department of Driver Services, asking them to remove "criminal trespassers" from property behind the DDS office on Aviation Boulevard near Queen City Parkway. Ownership of the property is being transferred to nearby Mar-Jac Poultry.
"It's a difficult situation for everyone involved," Hall County Sheriff Gerald Couch said in Tuesday's release.
The release from the sheriff's office says it and the Gainesville Police Department worked starting Friday, October 4 to tell the people in the encampment that they needed to clear the site. Authorities said crisis intervention teams and mental health experts along with United Way representatives worked with law enforcement to offer help to the people living on the site.
"An effort this past Friday, a week after our original visit, was also an educational one, to let the folks still trespassing know this is not their property, and they must leave," Couch said.
The sheriff's office said more than 30 criminal trespass warnings were issued before the remaining occupants were ultimately arrested. Mar-Jac Poultry reportedly began clearing the property on Monday.
AccessWDUN has reached out to both DDS and Mar-Jac for details regarding the land swap, but no response has been issued as of Tuesday evening.
