Judge temporarily blocks real estate developer from allowing encampments on his property
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A judge ruled Tuesday that the real estate developer who allowed an encampment to form on his south Minneapolis property can no longer do so on any of his city properties — for the time being.
The city of Minneapolis sued Hamoudi Sabri earlier this month, after issuing more than $20,000 in fines against Sabri since the encampment formed in July.
Two days before the first hearing in the case, a late-night shooting erupted at the encampment near 28th Avenue and Lake Street East. Six people were injured and a 30-year-old woman, Jacinda Oakgrove, later died.
The following morning, the city cleared the encampment, where an estimated 60-plus people were staying prior to the shooting. Some people who had been set up on the lot reported they were unable to grab their belongings before the city brought in dump trucks and taped off the site.
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Sabri, at the time, had said he would allow people to return, though last week agreed to hold off on allowing people on his property until a further meeting with the city on a possible resolution. After that didn’t succeed, Judge Thomas Conley issued a temporary restraining order Wednesday.
Sabri said in a statement he was weighing his next legal strategy.
“That strategy must also hold the city accountable for its profound dereliction of duty and care in public health and safety,” Sabri wrote. “Frey’s suing me for welcoming people he only kicks around. I never said that was the solution — only a start, expecting collaboration like we’ve seen work before.”
Mayor Jacob Frey called the temporary restraining order “the right call.”
“Encampments are not safe — not for residents, neighbors, or surrounding businesses. Once services and shelter are offered, encampments must be closed,” he wrote in a statement. “This ruling allows us to do exactly that and move people toward safer, more stable housing.”
Sabri had been issued thousands of dollars in fines for public health citations, including for the presence of drug needles and solid waste. The city ramped up action against the encampment as school started at the charter school next door.
The Minneapolis City Council had to vote to authorize the lawsuit against Sabri earlier this month, ultimately voting 6-4, giving it the greenlight.
Some council members who were opposed had wanted the city to pursue a different path forward, raising again the idea for a city-sanctioned space that would allow unhoused people a regulated home base while receiving direct service from outreach providers.
“Instead of wasting time and energy into a lawsuit, we can instead move people into a navigation center, move people into a location that is more safe and secure, not only for the folks living at the encampment, but the neighbors in the area,” Council member Jason Chavez said at the time, before voting against litigation.
Council member Jamal Osman, who ultimately voted in favor of the litigation, said the city was not holding itself to the same standard and had previously declined to provide portable bathrooms to encampments on public land in his ward. That was among the reasons Sabri was cited by the city.
The restraining order will be in place “until further order of the court.”
The underlying lawsuit — in which the city seeks Sabri pay the costs incurred from clearing and cleaning around the encampment — continues.
