SKOWHEGAN, Maine (AP) — Neighbors in a central Maine town are upset that a landowner who can't build on his quarter-acre parcel has opened up his land as a "nature park" for the homeless.

SKOWHEGAN, Maine (AP) — Neighbors in a central Maine town are upset that a landowner who can't build on his quarter-acre parcel has opened up his land as a "nature park" for the homeless.



An 84-year-old homeless man and his Rottweiler have set up camp on the property on Coburn Avenue in Skowhegan, a quiet residential street near downtown. A banner says, "Nature Park, Nature Trails for the Homeless People of Somerset County."



Neighbors tell the Morning Sentinel the neighborhood is inappropriate for a homeless encampment. They say landowner Bruce Obert, of Norridgewock, is miffed that zoning laws bar him from building on the land.



Obert says since he can't build, he decided to turn his property into a park for the homeless, complete with a picnic table and portable toilet.

Information from The Morning Sentinel