VA: They’ve been living in shacks by the water in Norfolk. Now they have to go — but where?

Officially, the prime spit of waterfront property off the Campostella Bridge – valued at $1.6 million – has been vacant for years.

A plan to build 246 apartments there, approved by the city in 2011, fell through.

But unbeknownst to the owners, the land has already been occupied.

Gina Gallegos and her boyfriend, ____ ____, arrived 18 months ago and claimed a large clearing in the trees. Gino Linn Reid has lived next door, deeper into the woods, for four years.

By most definitions, they’re homeless. But the homes they’ve made just east of the bridge on the south side of the Elizabeth River go far beyond tents in the woods.

____ built a shack out of leftover pallets from cabinet and lumber stores down the road and bought a gas generator for power. ____, a registered sex offender who’s spent 16 years in prison , made a frame from driftwood and draped it with tarps. Inside, he has carpets, a gas grill, two couches, a sink, a battery-operated TV and a small tent – where he sleeps. Outside are stone steps and a brick walkway. Full Article

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sad story . they were doing what I would like to be doing , I am good at it , I could teach anyone how to do it , and over a short period of time could be living pretty high on the hog , low over head , but they would freak out here in Cali if they find out some SO is getting by with out being watched by nosey people, the land is what I need , because all you need to do is put just about any thing on it and turn it into an address , so you have no problem when you REG , I checked out about what it cost to put in a well , and that cost like 20k , here in cali , and that was out by Edwards air force base , that’s the big trouble right their , water is the key , if anyone has any ideas please let me know , I would love to get out of the this dag city , but any way this was a good article , found it cool that the owner said he wished he never found out , and the state of mid of all the people was great ,I wish they live next door to me . when live out doors like that its all about state of mind , if I owned some land I would try to contact them and ask if they wanted to come here , I like people that are about heart and soul as well as spirit , sad time for them , and all RSO’s that cant even live where no one even cares about , yet these people had the spine to not only survive ,but see how wonderful it was seeing the fire flies the stars , all the simple things that the snoops in this word are missing out on

I love human interest stories but we still got to call out the bull when people aren’t totally honest. Aggravated battery against a minor involves a lot more than kissing on the lips. Gino Reid is definitely hiding something. Courts normally don’t have much information involving guilty pleas because both prosecutors & courts are barred from releasing discovery information that normally comes out in a public trial. However, police reports & criminal complaints are public if investigative journalists really wanted to dig around. I’m not making any judgements on this man, but 15 years in the pokey don’t add up for indecent exposure and failure to register. Especially by someone who can’t stand being in a building for over 2 hours would have done everything to get registered and avoid being sent to the cooler. There’s something more nefarious to this man’s offense. I really don’t give a rats as what he did, but please don’t pull the wool over our eyes. And that includes this media outlet