SALT LAKE CITY — When Rio Grande Cafe owner Pete Henderson opened a text message Saturday night, he saw a picture of his son's scratched and bloodied face.

"Another day on Rio Grande Street," his 29-year-old son, Ian, wrote in the text.

Ian Henderson, who manages the cafe that his father built 35 years ago, said it's the second time in six months he's been assaulted while trying to protect customers from harassment.

The cafe sits less than a block away from The Road Home shelter, where Salt Lake's homeless population overflows onto the median at 500 West.

Customers often endure threats and aggressive panhandling on their way into the restaurant, sometimes passing by people with needles sticking out of their arms, Ian Henderson said.

But Saturday, customers eating outside in the restaurant's gated patio started fidgeting when a woman began screaming at them from across the fence.

"She was obviously drunk," said Ian Henderson, who stepped outside to ask the woman to leave.

He dodged her first attempt at a punch, but a second swipe scratched his face and tore his glasses from his face.

"It makes it impossible for us to run a business," Ian Henderson said.

A few months ago, he was punched by a man who came into the cafe to hassle customers for money, he said.

"We've had customers tell us, 'We love your restaurant, but the neighborhood is too scary to come down there anymore,'" Ian Henderson said.

'Not enough'

Pete Henderson said he's fed up, infuriated by the conditions surrounding his cafe, with business plummeting 50 percent over the past five years.

"I've reached a point where we have to keep the window blinds closed in fear of our customers having to watch somebody shoot up heroin, defecate or prostitute themselves right out the window," he said. "We can't do this anymore. We have to have a breather. This place stinks, literally."

The cafe owner said the Rio Grande neighborhood's troubles have "reached a crescendo."

Even though city leaders launched what they called an "unprecedented operation" last week to target crime and addiction in the area, Pete Henderson remains frustrated. He said last week's efforts are "not enough."

"I appreciate the effort, but I do not expect it to have any effect," Pete Henderson said, adding that he's seen crackdown after crackdown play out in Rio Grande. "There's only one way to solve the problem in that neighborhood."

That solution, he said, is closing or moving The Road Home, which is over its 1,100-person capacity.

Pete Henderson said his lease, due in early 2017, sits unsigned on his desk — and he won't sign it until he receives a firm date and commitment that the shelter will either close or move.

But Salt Lake City Council Chairman James Rogers told the Deseret News and KSL editorial boards Monday that there's currently "no expectation" to close or move the shelter.

The City Council, he said, is looking to Mayor Jackie Biskupski to put forward a short-term plan to address the neighborhood's immediate needs heading into winter.

In the meantime, city and county leaders are pleading with the public to be patient and give current efforts some time to work.

Ongoing efforts

Just last week, Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams, Biskupski and city and county law enforcement launched Operation Diversion, an effort to separate serious offenders from the vulnerable, while treating up to 150 people for substance abuse over the next six months — and longer if they can secure more funding.

The City Council and Biskupski also resolved a stalemate over the size and number of homeless shelters that will be built over the next two years.

Instead of building two new resource centers with 250 beds each, city leaders are now moving forward with a plan to build four shelters with no more than 150 beds each. The deadline for site selection is Oct. 10, but that means the new shelter beds won't be available until construction is complete three years down the road.

Rogers said Biskupski has had a "learning curve" in implementing immediate solutions, but he pointed to Operation Diversion as an impressive collaboration.

While Rogers said it was "shocking and disheartening" to see 10 of the 30 individuals who decided to accept treatment walk away within the first 12 hours, it will take time for Operation Diversion to have a visible impact on the Rio Grande neighborhood's troubles.

Biskupski said police will be making multiple coordinated raids over the next several months.

When asked if the city can enact any kind of emergency protocol to address the area's conditions while waiting for the new homeless resource centers to be built, City Councilman Stan Penfold said "it's going to be up to the mayor" to propose any immediate plans.

The City Council has set an Oct. 25 deadline for the mayor to bring forth a plan to provide shelter for The Road Home's overflow. Biskupski's spokesman, Matthew Rojas, said the mayor has bumped up a meeting with homeless service providers that normally happens in November to gather input on what the plan should look like.

"We hope we can work cooperatively with the council to determine how to best move forward," Rojas said.

Rogers said he would like to see a plan to expedite when the new homeless resource centers come online, as well as a program to provide affordable housing vouchers to about 100 to 200 of the shelter's most needy.

Over the past three years, the City Council has provided $3.8 million to help address issues related to homelessness in the Rio Grande area, and it's ready to commit more, Rogers said.

In the meantime, he said, the City Council is aiming to move quickly to shrink the city's affordable housing shortage, which is estimated at 7,500 units.

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