This reminds me a lot of the McRefugees in Hong Kong.
yah... this started out as a kind of unofficial Wal-Mart policy which was "hey - if a bunch of retired folk in their RVs park in our lots on their way through town - guess where they'll buy a gallon of milk, some windshield washer fluid, and a cup of coffee? or fill their prescriptions? or a buy a new pair of sneakers?" It's not rocket science, and it's not a bad idea. Other than black Friday, most of these lots are super empty. Then the line between "retired folk" and "homeless" started to blur. Legally, you can't discriminate against the smelly people in the converted school bus.... so cities started cracking down on everybody (which is funny because it's a private parking lot - can they arrest me for sleeping in my car in my driveway?). I was glad to see this city back off of one of those silly ordinances.
Damn, that's sad :( But at least they have a place to be and not too far from civilization. I can't think of a place like that in Montreal that won't get your car towed. I'll keep that in mind for the day I do a proper road trip around the states tho, recently sent a week driving from New Orleans back to Montreal and found out there are really not many cheap accommodation options in the states.
I wish they would have elaborated on the casino, because "let's get the homeless people addicted to gambling" doesn't make sense in isolation, homeless people not having much to loose and all. The mayor lifting the law against sleeping in cars was unusually enlightened. The trend is more in the other direction, trying to make your city unlivable to force them to go be someone else's problem. Florida, as always, is the land of black comedy.