A Mexican restaurant in a strip mall on South Nevada Avenue has had the contents of its grease dumpster thrown at the rear of its building. Vagrants also regularly urinate and defecate near the establishment, according to the manager, who declined to give his name citing privacy.

A dozen people broke into a shuttered motel on South Nevada Avenue and started cooking meth there while illegally squatting, said Jariah Walker, executive director of the Colorado Springs Urban Renewal Authority. Now it’s an empty lot. The old motel and former homeless shelter for families has been razed partly because of the illegal activity.

Justin Powell, who also manages a business in the corridor, said he recently encountered someone smoking crack next to his car when he had his kids in tow. He’s also been the victim of theft at the hands of the homeless population.

“If it’s not tied down, they’ll steal it. I’ve even had to lock up my porta-johns,” he said. “It’s insane around here. Businesses have been ransacked. I know one lady who starts fires every day. Last week a woman sitting at the river was shooting off a gun. You have hundreds of people peeing and pooping to the point you can’t walk down the sidewalk.”

An additional allocation of $458,000 in funding from retail marijuana tax revenues that Colorado Springs City Council approved Tuesday on a final 7-2 vote is intended to curb some of the errant actions of transients and criminals in the developing gentrified neighborhood south of downtown.

“It just needs more love,” Walker said after the vote. “We need more people working in partnership with the Colorado Springs police and the security company to keep the area safe and comfortable for people to walk around.”

The amended ordinance approves a one-year contract between the Colorado Springs Urban Renewal Authority and Fidelis Security Solutions, a private security company in Colorado Springs.

Starting at the end of this month or in early September, six unarmed guards will patrol the corridor seven days a week, covering 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. in three shifts.

Drones will be deployed from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m. to “locate, deter, observe and report undesirable activity within the service area,” according to the proposal.

Tuesday’s allocation is being combined with $300,000 already earmarked for security in the South Nevada Avenue shopping district.

Declining sales tax revenue of 9% to 13% annually from businesses in the area, which was designated as an urban renewal site in 2015 and stretching to 2040, led Walker to petition City Council for more funding.

Councilmember Dave Donelson said from the dais that he supported the proposal after hearing from Colorado Springs Police Chief Adrian Vasquez last month during the first presentation that his department doesn’t have enough sworn officers to cover security detail for that section of town.

“To me this is a stopgap — this is not the ideal way to do this — but I’m convinced it’s worth doing temporarily,” Donelson said.

Councilmember Kimberly Gold was one of the two who voted against the measure.

“I believe this money could be better allocated for housing people instead of private security,” she said before the vote. “Those experiencing homelessness, we are making the migration easier for them, which would trickle into District 4,” which she represents.

The area has pockets of existing private security paid for by businesses — around Motor City and the Southgate shopping center for example, Walker said. However, “The entire east side is void of security.”

The new guards will cover identified hot spots for criminal activity, around the Maverick gas station and convenience store on South Nevada Avenue, the entirety of Dorchester Park on South Tejon Street and South Nevada Avenue, where police have limited parking and movement, the Interstate 25 ramp at Arvada and the southern part of the Mill Street neighborhood, according to Walker.

The guards, who Walker said are all ex-police, will not be armed and will not be able to write tickets.

“Their main role is essentially to keep public rights of way clear and not in violation of the sit/lie ordinance, de-escalate altercations, curb open drug use and stop drug dealing,” he said. “We’ve got to figure out how to make the area calmer.”

Springs Rescue Mission, the city’s largest emergency shelter for homeless adults, supports the plan, said President and CEO Travis Williams.

The shelter is just a few blocks west of where street people congregate daily, near bus stops and in the shade of restaurants, grocery stores, hotels and shops.

“Springs Rescue Mission wants to see healthy people, thriving businesses and a safe South Nevada corridor. We need all three,” Williams said. “This investment can be a meaningful step in the right direction.”

It’s based on a similar initiative in downtown Colorado Springs, the Clean and Safe program of the Downtown Partnership, a merchants’ association.

Safety supports transformation, Williams said, because “a community where people can live, work and move forward safely benefits everyone.”

But where are people supposed to go? asked one homeless woman who was sitting outside a convenience store Monday.

“There’s only so many places you can go,” said Veascas Ray, who said he’s been homeless off and on for 25 years. He also likes to park his wheelchair on the sidewalk by the convenience store.

He and a friend were talking while picking up trash around where they were sitting.

“I understand the trash, but a lot of the trash ain’t us — it’s other people,” Ray said. “You got to respect the businesses.”

Jonathan Grine said it’s a good spot to pass the day because the store is right there and a liquor store is also in sight.

Though the rescue mission is within walking distance, Ray and Grine don’t like to use it.

“I’d rather be out here with all my stuff than be in there with all my stuff,” Grine said.

Walker said the new guards will call in police as a last resort. He expects most people to move along when asked.

He also hopes the security guards will build rapport with street people, dispel myths about the emergency shelter and point them to assistance.

Ray and Grines oppose more security guards patrolling the area.

“That’s just more harassment for us,” Grine said. “The biggest problem is their bias.”

Ray believes working on eliminating what he sees as the root of the problem — drugs being sold at Dorchester Park — would be more helpful to everyone.

“It’s not us. It’s not like we’re taking away from businesses. We’re giving them business,” he said.

But crime overall is up 18% in the past few years in the area, according to data.

“This isn’t just a homeless issue. You can’t hang out down here and break the law,” Walker said. “There’s illegal dumping. There are criminals selling illegal drugs and other activity. I can’t build out trail and creek improvements with that sales tax we’re losing.”