Sunny Acres is a home grown Recovery Center outside of San Luis Obispo, CA owned by Dan DeVaul. Over the past few years, wealthy housing developments have grown into the landscape where this little ranch once stood by itself. Neighbors are appalled by the conditions of the ranch where Mr.DeVaul has been helping the homeless and addicted for years all on his own.
Through his own efforts he built a dormitory to house the many that come through his gate seeking help. This dormitory and the abandoned cars that litter his property have been at the center of a moral controversy in this quiet little liberal town.
The dormitory is not up to county codes, so it is now boarded up and the residents live in a tent city on the property which is apparently legal, but not any safer. The abandoned cars are an eyesore to the wealthy homeowners that have built near his ranch.
One can't hold the county code enforcement officers at fault here for doing their job, but it seems when someone is doing good like this the county itself could give a variance for the property. You would think that in a liberal town such as San Luis Obispo, the care for the homeless and less fortunate would be the priority, but apparently it is only OK if it's done in a way that keeps them out of site.
The most recent development has been that a judge has disallowed the testimony of the homeless in a"necessity defense' argument. This is being appealed as it seems to smack of disenfranchisement of those wanting to testify.
With the economy the way it is and unemployment at these record levels across the nation, how long will it be before there are mass tent cities rising up on the roadsides and countrysides as they did during the great depression? They'll probably be less safe than Sunny Acres and my guess is communities like San Luis Obispo will push them away as an unacceptable eyesore.
simply,
Tim
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