Tharros Village, the structured tent community operating off of Route 1, serving unhoused people in the area, opens for its first full season March 16th.
Last year, Hurricane Erin and a nor’easter in September required those residing in the village to evacuate, mostly due to the quality of their tents not being able to withstand the wind and rain those storms brought.
Upgrades to the shelter to prevent that are in the works, but Tharros site director Mike Agnew says it requires crucial changes to their agreement with the state and county.
“These platforms, there’s 28 platforms for 28 tents, the platforms will weigh about 1100 pounds. So once they’re constructed, they’re there- they aren’t going to move. So yes, we needed the support of the state, which we have, and we needed to get the ordinance corrected so its aligned with the agreement we have with the state." he said.
Tharros is seeking extra language that will cause the county ordinance to update automatically each time Tharros makes new arrangements with the state- Agnew says that coming to the County each time would be a costly barrier.
Agnew says permission to leave these new tents was already approved by the state.
"The landlord is the state, so we want to stay in compliance with the landlord, and we are. In fact, we are complying with everything that our contract with the state says that we need to do. And, we have done that, in the closing of the village this past November, and when it closes again this coming November, we’ll always be in compliance with the state." he said.
Some commissioners previously voiced concerns that would remove county oversight of the arrangement, but the ordinance was still recommended for approval.
Tharros’s 2026 season is set to run from March 16th through November 30th.
