EUGENE — Some business owners in downtown Eugene say they’re losing customers because of the behavior of impoverished people outside a downtown Eugene diner that offers free meals.

Some are calling for the eatery to move. But the operators of The Dining Room say it’s staying put.

The Eugene Register-Guard reports that a recent discussion between business and social service interests found no middle ground.

The diner is an 8-year-old meal site run by FOOD for Lane County. It caters weekly to an estimated 1,200 people who are homeless or in danger of becoming homeless. The Register-Guard says patrons convene four days a week for a four-course meal.

Among the complaints are drunkenness, drug use, foul language and public urination and sex.

“I know husbands who won’t let their wives go (here) anymore,” said Scott Siegmund, owner of Gardner Floor Covering just around the corner. “You can see the looks on people’s faces when they pull up in front of the store or are walking in the front door.”

He said the diner should move to a district that doesn’t have retail business.

‘We are not going anywhere’

“We are not going anywhere,” said Josie McCarthy, FOOD for Lane County program manager. She said segregating those in need from the rest of the community will only reinforce their feelings of despondency.

“If we were to move, that would be the worst,” she said. “It would only put (the patrons) lower in that mindset.”

She said unhappy business owners should consider volunteering at The Dining Room to build respectful relationships with people they now see as adversaries.

“We are being successful,” she said. “We are treating them with kindness and respect, and that is working for us. Kindness works.”

The Dining Room has a hospitality and safety coordinator, Evin Marshall, who posts himself outside the restaurant’s entrance at mealtimes much like the bouncer he has been. He said the diners are typically calmer and more courteous than bar patrons.

‘A multifaceted problem’

Eugene police Lt. Doug Mozan said The Dining Room is “very professional with its clientele,” serving its patrons with “a level of dignity that is unmatched.”

But Mozan said officers do encounter behavioral problems associated with frequenters of The Dining Room and other downtown social service agencies, especially after hours.

He said the department maintains a bicycle squad dedicated to the downtown core.

The proximity of a liquor store and a methadone clinic raises the potential for disruptive behavior, Mozan said.

“You have a sort of multifaceted problem,” he said. “The Dining Room is just one small piece of a larger scenario.”