American Flags and Poles owner Sylvi Caporale speaks at a Marietta Planning, Zoning, Annexation and Housing Committee meeting Tuesday about her views about the homeless drop-in center on Front Street in Marietta. Caporale and other business owners shared they feel the center’s location has caused safety issues for business owners and customers.

Marietta City Council members heard from downtown business owners concerned about the homeless drop-in center at 274 Front St.

During a Planning, Zoning, Annexation and Housing Committee meeting Tuesday evening, Chairman and Ward 2 Councilman Bret Allphin said council needed to discuss safety concerns people have before they create a new subrecipient agreement with the Washington County Homeless Project for the center. Through the existing agreement, the city pays the center’s rent.

City Development Director Geoff Schenkel said there is a difference of opinion on security at the center. Council members have a clear desire for a person to be at the center, while center representatives say a security camera in place is sufficient.

Schenkel said the center had a security person at its previous location next to the Unitarian Universalist Society church on Third Street and it worked. He said he wanted to give council information about safety issues so they can make a decision about what they expect for security in the subrecipient agreement.

Issues brought up when he surveyed downtown business owners included people cursing; smoking; noise complaints; camping at or behind businesses on Front and Second streets; homeless people asking businesses for food, clothes and to use the restroom; employees being bothered by homeless people; and people yelling, Schenkel said. One complaint, from an anonymous business owner, involved “sexual favors observed being given in the proximity around the drop-in center,” he said.

Marietta Police Sgt. Tyson Estes spoke during the meeting, saying he was not presenting the official stance of the department but sharing what he has observed.

Estes pointed out that “homelessness is not a crime” and said when he gets a call for a homeless person and they are not committing a crime, he gives them information about services.

“We get a lot of calls regarding homelessness or ‘I’m scared of that person,'” Estes said. “If you live in an ivory tower then you’re scared of that person. We get a lot of calls for what I call social crimes. They’re not actually a crime, just nobody wants to see them.”

Estes chalked up the increase in instances downtown with homeless people to changes in society and said he would not put that on the drop-in center.

The committee meeting also included a public comment period during which six people spoke about issues with the drop-in center and homeless people in downtown Marietta. All of them were business owners or the employees of businesses.

One of the speakers was Charles Clay, owner of Dad’s Primitive Workbench at 268 Front St., two doors down from the center. He said he has called the police more than 15 times in the last year, including an incident in which the “n-word” was screamed at a woman as she was shopping downtown and someone chased her down the street.

Another instance involved “my employee being threatened with her life for not giving someone an item off of the clearance rack,” Clay said.

A lawyer’s office next to his store called the police because people were sleeping in the basement of the building, he said. During Facebook Live events, he said customers can hear people cursing outside.

“It’s a lot to handle as a business owner, who’s already dealing with your staff and your customers, but it’s our responsibility to take care of our community,” Clay said. “It’s our responsibility to take care of our buildings. It’s our responsibility to take care of our staff and make sure they’re safe and our customers. When they’re running from (American Flags and Poles) to mine to hide from someone … it’s not okay.”

Clay placed the blame on the drop-in center moving downtown two years ago.

“That’s when the issue started, especially for us,” he said.

He said he feels like the whole street is behind him and the things that are happening are unsafe.

“It’s really disgusting what it’s doing to our downtown,” he said.

Clay said he has tried to have a conversation with people at the drop-in center and they say the homeless people are their friends and are not going to hurt anyone.

“So I’m imploring you to really think about the placement of (the drop-in center),” he said. “There is a need for sure. I am not a heartless man … Things are happening that are good. It’s the placement of it that is wrong.”

American Flags and Poles owner Sylvi Caporale said when the center moved in two years ago she believed there was a need for its services but she was concerned that the things that are happening now would happen.

“We have always told people about how safe this town is … I’m probably a little more reluctant to say that to them now but I want to be positive,” Caporale said.

She asked council members to think about what the drop-in center’s location is doing to business owners.

“We are all sensitive to the needs of these people but these people who are having some issues have different social values than we have,” Caporale said, pointing to litter behind her store and in the parking lot as an example.

At-Large Councilman Ben Rutherford asked Caporale if she agreed that the issues downtown are a function of the location of the drop-in center and not societal reasons.

“Absolutely,” she said.

No representatives of the drop-in center were at the meeting.

After the public comment portion of the meeting, Allphin asked that anyone who had additional comments about the drop-in center to email him at BretAllphin@mariettaoh.net,

Michelle Dillon can be reached at mdillon@newsandsentinel.com