Rosemary District faces new homeless challenge

Sarasota officials may be playing a game of whack-a-mole: They attempt to eliminate problems stemming from the area’s homeless population in one area, only to see those issues arise in another part of the city.

The Rosemary District is the newest source of complaints. Businesses say the number of homeless people in the area has increased noticeably in the past few months. The population boom comes on the heels of increased police patrols throughout the downtown area after businesses and residents spoke up about problems attributed to the homeless population.

What’s worse than the increased numbers, Rosemary District businesses say, is the character of the new crop of people differs significantly from the homeless who have traditionally inhabited the area. In the past, some Rosemary businesses have prided themselves on the ability to coexist with the transient presence in the neighborhood — a stark contrast from the Main Street businesses they felt received more attention from the city.

Now, people in the Rosemary District are asking the city to grant them that same attention.

“It’s a difficult problem,” said Bill Cornelius, the co-owner of the Blue Rooster. “We just want the laws enforced in our neighborhood the same way they’re enforced on Main Street.”

Cornelius, who also owns the buildings that house Station 400 and Darwin’s on Fourth, was one of five Rosemary District business owners, employees and residents to appear before the City Commission Sept. 2. During that meeting, they spoke of the rapidly changing character of the neighborhood and the effects it was having on their businesses and personal lives.

“I’m from Detroit,” Cornelius said. “I’ve been to the worst parts of Detroit, and honest, I’ve never been afraid for my life until the last month.”

One of the most significant areas of homeless growth has been Kumquat Court, which runs just east of Cornelius’ properties. Until recently, Cornelius said, the homeless population has been older and respectful of their neighbors in the area. Now, there are more faces he doesn’t recognize — a younger crowd, which Cornelius guesses is coming from out of town.

He says he’s been yelled at and taunted, that fights have broken out in the area. He’s found human feces in his parking lot, and has had to stop people from using the water spigots on his property to bathe. A chef at one of the restaurants, meeting a reporter for an interview, felt uncomfortable venturing outside of the building at 3 p.m.

Bill’s wife, Ellen, said the police have been called on a regular basis, but the problem persists.

“They’re doing as good a job as they can do,” Ellen Cornelius said. “Something more has got to be done.”

John Sheintal is the owner of the Rosemary Court complex on Central Avenue. Located less than a block from the Salvation Army, the area has been the most notable spot for congregations of homeless people in the neighborhood for some time. There, too, the situation is getting worse, he said.

Recently, Sheintal has lost three tenants who have housed their business in the Rosemary District for nearly a decade each. At the commission meeting, he read from two separate messages from tenants, regretfully informing him of their decision to leave — and attributing the move to the homeless issues.

“If I could change the situation outside, I would stay for as long as my career lasts,” wrote Lauren Wood, who moved her massage studio, Massage Market, from the Rosemary District over Labor Day weekend.

Michele Holmes, who owns Bodies in Motion Massage, also made the decision to move her business away from its Central Avenue location. She wrote she and her customers no longer felt safe in the area, and that she doubted the city would take any action.

“I wish the city would take our plight more seriously and act more aggressively about the problem,” Holmes wrote. “I feel something really bad may have to happen before change will occur, and quite frankly, I don’t want that something to happen to me or my clients.”

Sheintal said the lack of attention from the city was a leading factor in contributing to the concern in the neighborhood.

“They were able to make it through the recession, when most of the other businesses along Central Avenue were closing up, but they have not been able to make it through the current problem we are having,” Sheintal said. “It is frustrating when my tenants look to me to solve the problems we’re having, and I am helpless to solve the problems.”

Moving target
Bill Cornelius said Sarasota Police Department Chief Bernadette DiPino met with Rosemary businesses about a week ago, and assured them the area would get more police attention going forward.

SPD has run overtime details in other areas, at Five Points Park, Pineapple Park and along Main Street, where large homeless populations led to complaints, and the population has eventually shifted elsewhere following the increased scrutiny. Cornelius believes the Rosemary District might be the unintended victim of those patrols.

“I drive by (Main Street) on my way home every night,” Cornelius said. “I notice that there are hardly any homeless people on the street. I don’t know if that’s a coincidence or not.”

Cornelius was glad to hear about the prospect of additional police presence but acknowledged the problem was likely to be rerouted to a new area. He said he was hopeful for longer-term solutions; he likes the city’s “Homeward Bound” program, which provides transportation to homeless people who have a family member in another city willing to take them in.

Until a more comprehensive fix is identified, however, the short-term issues may continue to persist. WSLR Station Manager Arlene Sweeting, who works on Kumquat Court, echoed the concerns of other businesses in the area, but said the conversation needs to shift before the underlying issues can be addressed.

“I don’t like when I see it becoming an us vs. them issue,” Sweeting said. “I don’t see them as at fault. I see it as a situation where we need to be advocates for them, as people who live in the community who need shelter.”

Cornelius said he recently overheard an officer suggest a homeless person relocate from Kumquat Court to a different camp near Ninth Street and Central Avenue — near Rosemary Court, Sheintal’s property.

“I feel for individuals like that, who are being basically run out of business by city officials making that a homeless zone — a come-as-you-are homeless shelter,” Cornelius said. “That’s just the facts. It just doesn’t seem fair to people who live in that area. They pay just as much taxes as everyone else.”