Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/293799
work, please make a public statement that you are against a shelter." A CONCENTRATED AREA Barbetta said the shelter should be in the city because that is where the homeless popula tion is. "That seems to be lost in all of this," Barbetta pointed out. "People are saying, 'We don't want it in the city.' If they don't want it in the city, we will back off, but the homeless prob lem isn't going away. Right now, the homeless shelter is the city of Sarasota and its parks and its streets." The reality, Barbetta continued, is that prob lems will exist until a shelter is built. Hines said he thinks people in the commu nity would prefer a homeless shelter not be necessary. "We wish that we didn't have this problem. We would rather build parks and boat ramps and other things. But the reality is we have this problem and it is clearly con centrated in one particular area. That is the reality we are dealing with." Hines pointed to reports from the Sarasota County Fire Department that have estimates showing 75 percent of the homeless people in the area sleep within the city. Commissioner Nora Patterson said she would like for Applebee, the county's homelessness efforts coordinator, and Marbut to keep the commissioners updated if a new viable shelter site becomes available. "If there are another A flag marks the UPS drop-off facility on 17th Street, near the proposed homeless shelter site on Osprey Avenue (to the left). Image from Google Maps Sarasota News Leader April 11, 2014 Page 11