Last of Bridge Sex Offenders to Be Moved Tonight
Julia Tuttle residents are finally getting the boot.
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MIAMI - JUNE 19: A view of one of the many sexual offenders that lives under the Julia Tuttle causeway bridge due to zoning restrictions that leave them nowhere else to go June 19, 2009 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Charles Ommanney/Getty Images)
The remaining sex offenders living under the Julia Tuttle bridge will finally get their eviction papers tonight.
According to Miami-Dade Homeless Trust chairman Ron Book, the move will take place tonight, but that he can't say exactly when, as it would spook those living there.
Tomorrow, the process of tearing down the structures will begin.
The encampment beneath the Julia Tuttle Causeway popped up in 2007 and once housed more than 100 people who said they were unable to live elsewhere because of stringent sex offender ordinances.
But shacks and tents have come down in recent days as the Miami-Dade Homeless Trust relocates residents to apartments, motels and trailer parks. The trust says it will pay their rent for up to six months.
While that gives the group of men a fighting chance, it doesn't solve the bigger issue of local ordinances that have pretty much forced the men out of neighborhoods.
State law prohibits sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of schools, child-care centers, parks or other areas where kids congregate. Miami-Dade has much stricter requirements and has stretch the boundary to 2,500 feet.
Currently, about 30 sex offenders call the bridge home.
