The government wasn’t the one who initiated action against this man, it was the landowner. Looks like the government was pretty hands-off about this matter before then.
Why is the government involved now? Why is he in jail? Doesn’t he have some rights, such as easement rights considering the decades he’s been there?
It was the town administrator that went to the land owner letting him know about all the violations. The owner would have been liable for fines and upgrades, or kick the old guy out.