Father who had temporary home confiscated removed from Charlotte commission meeting

The Charlotte County Commissioners’ meeting took an abrupt turn when a man who wanted to speak to commissioners about a shed and bus that was confiscated from his property was escorted out.

Gary Shallow was kicked out of the meeting on Tuesday for his loud exchange with commissioners during public comment.

The Shallow family lost their home during Hurricane Ian. They were living out of a shed and bus parked on a property they had just purchased. But the county said it was an ordinance violation and took their makeshift home and bus, along with all their contents.

Charlotte County Commissioner Joe Tiseo addressed the issue during his voluntary comment section. He said the county has ordinances for a reason. One of the ordinances is that someone cannot live on a vacant section of land without sewage and power, and Shallow’s property had neither.

“Our Code does not allow for people to live on vacant land. That’s what’s going on here. There’s no running water. There’s no sanitary sewer except for a Porta Potty. There’s no internal plumbing. There’s no A/C,” said Tiseo.

Tiseo said that the county gave Shallow plenty of warning and resources to try to help out.

The meeting had to take a recess after Shallow stormed out, wheeling a relative in a wheelchair and security following close behind.

After Shallow left, Commissioner Joe Tiseo gave WINK News a pamphlet showing a photo-by-photo record of the day Shallow’s property was seized. The photos not only show the condition of the property but Shallow’s arrest for not cooperating.

At the end of the meeting, after Shallow’s removal, the commissioners discussed what they can do to help him. They agreed to get in contact with his family and help facilitate the return of his personal belongings.