From what understand the neighborhood association or whatever is fine with it as long it stays clean, no litter or graffiti. The business right there doesn't like people parking in the the lot, best to park on Washington and enter on the path entrance at Washington and Columbus.
One time I was over there and wanted to check out some of the other nearby piers for anything worth photographing. I crawled through a hole in a fence to this overgrown area, 30 yards in I can sense someone lives back there. I figured not much worth bringing my camera out for and best to leave. As I'm heading out a grimy Asian man in his 50's is coming through the hole in the fence, it's the dude who lives there. I say hi and he asks in poor English what I'm doing back there. I explain about the photography and we talk for about 5 minutes as best we could with the language barrier. I gathered he has a job unloading trucks at on of the Vietnamese businesses on Washington and has a daughter that goes to UPenn; it was an interesting experience to say the least.