The “gross mismanagement” of the Gail Miller Homeless Resource Center by two nonprofits has led to a “rampant rise” in area crime, four Salt Lake City businesses contend in a new lawsuit.
The companies want a judge to order the nonprofits, The Road Home and Shelter the Homeless, to “immediately abate” nuisances — from piles of used syringes and needles to human waste to public drug deals and fights — allegedly caused by their negligent operation of the center.
Two of the businesses, Mago LLC and Danielson Holdings LLC, lease property to Diggity Dog Resort and Alpha Munitions, which are located directly across and next to the Gail Miller Center on Paramount Avenue. The other two plaintiffs, DRP2 and DRP3, own a warehouse and a residence along Paramount Avenue diagonal to the Gail Miller Center.
Shelter the Homeless and The Road Home own and operate the center, according to the lawsuit. Both organizations are aware of the complaint, but said in statements that they have not yet received the formal legal documents.
“In the meantime, we are grateful to our staff, board, donors and community partners for supporting our well documented efforts and practices in preventing and ending homelessness in our community,” a spokesperson for Shelter the Homeless said in a statement.
The Road Home declined to comment until it has the opportunity to “thoroughly review” the claims. “While we cannot comment at the moment,” its statement said, “we want to assure our supporters, staff, and the public that we will continue to operate with transparency, accountability, and in compliance with the law.”
What the businesses have experienced
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Michelle Goldberg, owner of Diggity Dog Resort at 245 W. Paramount Ave., spends time with some of her clients' dogs on Thursday, April 7, 2022. A new lawsuit alleges poor operation of the nearby Gail Miller Homeless Resource Center has damaged her business.
The property owners operated “profitable small businesses in a safe, developing neighborhood” until the Miller Center opened nearby in September 2019, causing “serious interference” with their lives and businesses, the lawsuit alleges. All four owned their properties at least a year before the center opened, it notes.
Diggity Dog Resort, which provides daycare, grooming and boarding services for dogs, moved to its location at 245 W. Paramount Ave. in 2015, it said. Owned by Michelle Goldberg, the business has encountered “a lot of foot traffic” between the Miller Center and a liquor store about a block south of Diggity Dog, the lawsuit said.
“The once quiet street has been flooded with an appalling amount of criminal activity,” the filing states. “Illegal drug deals take place on Diggity Dog’s property and on the sidewalks in front of the business.”
Goldberg and Bob Danielson, the owner of Alpha Munitions, and the other two property owners frequently find drug paraphernalia on their properties, such as piles of used syringes and needles, according to the complaint.
Encampments have been set up on both Danielson’s and Goldberg’s properties, it states, and Diggity Dog’s parking lot has been treated “like a public bathroom.”
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune file photo) Bob Danielson, owner of Alpha Munitions, with Diggity Dog Resort visible behind him. Both businesses are near the Gail Miller Homeless Resource Center, and the owners allege in a new lawsuit that poor management by the nonprofits that own the center has harmed their businesses.
Goldberg has called the city to clean away the excrement, but the city’s slow response times have forced her and her employees to clean the area themselves, according to the suit. If the excrement were left until city employees arrived days later, clients and their dogs likely would have come in contact with it, it explains.
“At one point, three of Michelle’s employees informed her that they would no longer clean up other people’s waste and that, if she asked them to do it again, they would quit,” the complaint states. “Diggity Dog is open 365 days a year, including holidays, so without her employees’ help, Michelle has arrived at the property every single morning to clean any feces and urine that is there before her clients arrive.”
Goldberg, Danielson and the other tenants also have suffered from property damage and theft, according to the suit, and seen repeated altercations between unsheltered people on their properties.
At one point, an unsheltered man “went on a window-breaking spree” along Paramount Avenue, and Danielson asked him why he had broken so many windows, the suit states. The man began to throw rocks at Danielson, and when Danielson sought shelter inside his business, the man threw a large rock that damaged about $6,000 of Alpha Munition’s specialty equipment, according to the complaint.
Weapons like knives, hatchets and rebar have been stored on Danielson’s property, it adds. To thwart crime, Danielson has installed an 8-foot-high barbed wire fence around Alpha Munitions and has security cameras and a security door at his business.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune file photo) A security camera mounted outside Alpha Munitions captures a woman holding a machete and scaling the fence in 2022. Owner Bob Daniels' business sits adjacent to the Gail Miller Homeless Resource Center at 242 W. Paramount Ave. in Salt Lake City.
Danielson and his employees have also been attacked — and Danielson has suffered a broken finger, broken toe and “multiple bruises” from individuals who loiter near the business, according to the suit. He now keeps his front door locked at all times, provided employees with bear spray and relocated his office to serve as a “buffer” between the rest of his business and those who enter through the front door.
“Like Michelle, he feels frustrated and helpless,” the complaint states. “For years, Bob has tried to be an active part of solving the problems caused by the Miller Center. But instead of welcoming his support, Shelter and the Road Home have publicly vilified him, ignored his pleas for help, and failed to take measures well within their power to improve or resolve the above circumstances.”
The nonprofits have encouraged Danielson to relocate his business, according to the suit. But because of the business’ “specialty equipment” and other building modifications, it would cost over $1 million to relocate Alpha Munitions — not including the cost of a new property, the suit states.
Goldberg has made inquiries about relocating her business, but “correctly zoned buildings that can accommodate her business remain limited,” according to the suit, and the increased costs of purchasing a new building and completing another buildout “are now beyond affordability.”
“She is frustrated by having to wade through the bureaucratic morass that surrounds the Miller Center,” the suit states, “which seems to endlessly mire her with someone else to talk to who just might, finally, be able do something about it, but never does.”
What the businesses allege went wrong
The negative impacts to the neighborhood have been caused by Shelter the Homeless and The Road Home failing to comply with the requirements set out in the Miller Center’s conditional use permit, the suit alleges, as well as their own security and operations plans.
Conditional use permits are approved only if reasonable conditions can be imposed to mitigate any “reasonably anticipated detrimental effects” of the property’s proposed use, the suit states.
When the center first opened, executives at Shelter the Homeless told community members — including one of the property owners pursuing the suit — that its screening process would make sure residents were “people that you would want to have in your neighborhood,” according to the complaint.
In practice, the center offers prioritized placement for residents with vulnerabilities, the suit alleges, including individuals who abuse drugs, or who have a mental illness. Prospective residents aren’t asked to verify their identity or to confirm they are not in possession of illegal drugs or weapons, according to the complaint.
The Road Home’s security service is not allowed to search residents, even if they cause an alert by the center’s metal detectors, the complaint states. The security service is prohibited by The Road Home to deny service to residents for any reason, according to the suit.
Because of this, the complaint alleges, residents use weapons in altercations with staff and other residents while inside the center. The Road Home staff do not report these altercations to law enforcement, according to the suit, and typically only issue a “verbal warning” after residents’ criminal behavior.
It alleges the nonprofits “have thwarted efforts to improve the situation, and have lied to their own clients, their neighbors, Salt Lake City, and others,” causing harm to neighbors and to unsheltered individuals. When community members complain about the Road Home’s responses, the organization tells others that the complainants “hate people experiencing homelessness,” the suit states.
The suit alleges the two nonprofits have “breached their duty” to resolve the negative impacts of center. It seeks a permanent injunction for them to “immediately abate” both public nuisances and those caused for the property owners, along with an amount of damages to be determined at trial.