Homeless people have been hanging around Ash Creek. Photo courtesy of Melissa Ronan.

The City of Dallas cleared out a homeless encampment at Tres Logos Lane in June. That’s what neighbor Melissa Ronan thinks caused some homeless people to move to an empty lot near Ferguson Road and Province Lane.

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One person started setting up tarps, blocking the flow of water and causing it to lay stagnant. It became a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Neighbors called it in to 311, and the case was closed without a follow-up.

In July, Ronan said one of her neighbors on the corner of Ferguson and Province had been interacting with the homeless people. He was yelling at them and telling them to leave. He noticed more tarps added and about 10 people along Ash Creek. They were selling drugs, according to the neighbor.

Though the homeless population is setting up tents in a different area, this is the same creek neighbors have been trying to save from construction near Bryan Adams High School.

Then Ronan reached out to neighbors on the Casa View Facebook page and asked for help. Someone who lived on Tres Logos sent her a list of people to contact to have the group relocated. Ronan did reach out to many of those contacts, but the situation has been complicated since the empty lot is private property.

Ronan said the homeless people are moving closer to the back of the property, where it’s harder to see them. But she still sees trash and shopping carts scattered around. There was a chain link fence around the lot, but it had been pushed down.

The owner of the empty property was supposed to come back to town this week, and Ronan wasn’t sure what would happen then.