Problems caused by homeless people in downtown Napa will be aired Thursday night when the Napa City Council holds a workshop on the future of the Hope Resource Center.

Now in its seventh year of operation, the center, which provides services to the homeless, has become a lightning rod for criticism by Old Town neighbors who feel overrun by street people.

Neighbors are asking that the city force Community Action of Napa Valley to shut down the Hope Center or move it somewhere else.

City staff is asking the council to hear the public's comments, then decide from among three options.

Reader Forum: Should homeless services be downtown?

If the center is thought to be in violation of its use permit or a threat to public health and safety, the council could tell the Planning Commission to hold a revocation hearing.

The council could direct Hope management to work with neighbors on new rules of operation that improve quality of life in the neighborhood.

Finally, the council could pressure Community Action of Napa Valley to begin looking for a new location where homeless adults can shower, do laundry and receive counseling.

The council is meeting with the Planning Commission at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at City Hall for this special joint session.

"It has to move out of this location ... it just has to," Lowell Downey, a neighbor who serves on the Hope Center's advisory board, said Monday.

The center is a magnet for the homeless who stay in the neighborhood to eat lunch at the Salvation Army and dinner at First Presbyterian Church's Table program, Downey said.

"It's not about not wanting to help the poor and feed the poor," Downey said. "What we have to do is keep them from being institutionalized in our neighborhood. Our own little Tenderloin has been created."

CANV and the Hope Center's landlord, First United Methodist Church, argue that the center has reduced homelessness and made the neighborhood better since it opened in October 2001.

Many of the problems that vex neighbors -- hanging out, boisterous behavior, drug and alcohol use -- involve people who are using a variety of neighborhood services for the homeless and low-income people, not necessarily Hope Center, they said.

"We have seen consistent improvement in the conditions of our facility and in our own interaction with homeless persons since the Hope Center was initiated," church leaders wrote last year. "When concerns have arisen, we have found the Hope Center staff both cooperative and responsive."

Napa Police Commander Jeff Troendly reported last month that criminal and non-criminal activity related to the homeless has declined downtown over the past year.

Troendly credited the department adding two homeless outreach workers to its staff in January. With more staff, police could do even more, he said.

"Alternatives should be investigated as to where services for the homeless should be located in hopes of reaching and/or eliminating complaints from neighboring residents and businesses," Troendly said.

Hope officials reported trying to prevent clients who leave the center from becoming a neighborhood nuisance. People who loiter in the area can now lose center privileges. Staff walks the block hourly to deter loitering and trash. Police now do warrant checks of every new person entering the center.

"It's a tough one," City Manager Mike Parness said Monday. "It's one of those issues without a right or a wrong side."

"There clearly have been impacts on the neighborhood. On the other hand, there is the question of the legitimate need for services," he said.

"Neighbors are saying, 'We've done our turn. It's somebody else's turn,'" Parness said.

The city has wrestled for almost two years with how to review the Hope Center's use permit, which was renewed in February 2003. At the time, the council said the permit was extended for three years "at which time it shall expire."

In fact, city laws don't allow this, Parness said. The city can revoke or modify a use permit only after conducting a public hearing in which the operation is found in violation of the requirements of its use permit or to be undermining public health and safety.

Thursday's hearing represents an opportunity for the council to do some fact-finding before deciding the next step.