ZEPHYRHILLS, Fla. — Pasco County has filed a complaint for temporary and permanent injunction against A Helping Rock, Inc.

If granted, the transitional shelter for homeless people would have to cease operations until a number of conditions are met.

• A Helping Rock, Inc provides men, women, couples with basics to help them get back on their feet
• County officials say A Helping Rock violating zoning, code regulations
• Hearing scheduled in case for May 6
• More Pasco County stories

"What this means is our guys, the homeless population, will have no place to go," said A Helping Rock Director Eddy Reyes. "We're talking about the east side of Pasco County. I mean, how far is the next facility from us? If you go down to Hudson, you're talking about an hour drive. If you go down to New Port Richey, an hour and a half."

Reyes said he purchased the property on Forbes Road two years ago. The goal of A Helping Rock is to provide homeless men, women, and couples with the basics -- food, clothing, and shelter -- while they get jobs and take other necessary steps to get off the streets.

The yearlong program also offers classes during the week on life skills. Reyes said 52 people graduated from the program last year.

"All of those classes are geared toward trying to equip them with the tools they're going to need so when they leave out of here, they can leave truly successful," Reyes said.

That's why he said it was blow to learn last month of the county's complaint.

What's the problem? 

According to court documents, A Helping Rock is in violation of both zoning and code regulations.

Documents state the property the shelter sits on is zoned as an agricultural district. As a result, only single-family residences and manufactured homes are allowed in these areas. 

In addition, A Helping Rock's 20 or so residents are living in cabins, RVs, and tents, which are not permitted. Inspections conducted in March and November of last year by county code enforcement officials resulted in several findings, including that "electric service presents imminent life-safety hazards across the Property", "unpermitted structural, electrical, plumbing and mechanical work" had been performed, and a mobile home and park model RV set without inspections or permits. 

"We got no reports, nothing on anything relevant to that," said Reyes. "This was in 2018. If there was a violation, that would've been the right time to disclose that to us so we can go ahead and resolve it."

When asked about the lack of notification via e-mail, a county spokesperson responded that Reyes was told during two meetings -- one in 2017 and one in 2018 -- that the group would have to either comply with existing zoning regulations or submit a re-zoning request to continue operations. The county said A Helping Rock never did so. 

Reyes said he's open to rezoning the property and would also like the county to remove a "block" on his property that's preventing him from making any fixes to the alleged code violations. The county said the main issue is that since A Helping Rock is operating in a way it isn't zoned for, permits can't be issued for something that's not a permitted use.

Trying to find new homes

About two weeks ago, Reyes began trying to find homes for his then-40 residents. 

"Obviously, any closure would dramatically impact those 20-25 individuals," said Coalition for the Homeless of Pasco County CEO Don Anderson.

Anderson said A Helping Rock hasn't reached out for help with re-housing, but noted the Coalition would do its best, if called on, to work with the group and other partners in its continuum of care to assess the needs of individuals and find them a place to stay. 

"The team at Helping Rock appear to really want to make a difference in the lives of individuals they want to bring into their program," Anderson said. "Unfortunately, the code violations that we're aware of are just too great to ignore."

Anderson said those in need could reach out to Restored Hope in Dade City or the Samaritan Project in Zephyrhills. Neither offer shelter services but can point people in the right direction.

"We are ready to take care of anything that we need to take care of so we can keep this place going," said Reyes. "Shutting this place down is not an answer to this problem at all."

A hearing is scheduled in this case for May 6. Reyes said he hoped the parties could find a solution before they head to court.

A meeting between Reyes and the county attorney's office was expected to take place Tuesday morning.