Homeless concerns surround downtown Colorado Springs redevelopment

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Nearly 1,600 people in Colorado Springs are considered homeless, and that number has been growing for more than five years according to the Coalition of Homeless Advocates and Providers.

For business owners in the downtown area, those figures are an increasing issue.

"Being close to downtown, I love the windows, the open and you can see what's going on and I love the corner location too," said Kimberly Romano, who owns Foil Salon at the corner of Tejon and Rio Grande streets. "I've seen it before and I've watched it grow and it's everywhere. Where you have a city, you're going to have homeless."

Less than a mile away from their salon sits the Salvation Army and the Springs Rescue Mission.

Feet away from the Salvation Army, the soon-to-be constructed Switchbacks Stadium serves as an example that redevelopment in the area is booming.

"The big arena going up right next to us and the apartment complex is amazing and that's great for us to have potential patrons," said Jose Perez, another owner at Foil Salon.

But employees working downtown worry the tourism the city is hoping to attract, could be scared off.

Mayor John Suthers says the city has heard the complaints before.

"We hear about it all the time," Suthers said, adding that the city is trying to tackle the issue the only way legally possible.

"The city is going to do what it can do. We can prevent people from laying on sidewalks, obstructing roadways. We're going to very aggressively do that," he said.

While ending homelessness isn't realistic, Suthers says increasing patrol to keep people safe is feasible.

"We're going to have plenty of police protection downtown, we've heightened the number of police officers over the last couple of years," he said.