TAMPA - Each day about 6 a.m. Father Sean O'Brien walks out of Sacred Heart Catholic Church before his morning run and rouses the dozens of homeless people sleeping on the steps.

"Do I have some volunteers to sweep?" he asks.

Two people take the brooms and brush off the steps as the people collect their cardboard boxes and blankets to move on for the day. Some go to low-paying jobs, others wander the downtown streets.

At dusk, they're back.

"This is the last safe place for homeless people," said Les Brown, 52, who has been sleeping outside Sacred Heart for three weeks.

Feeling pushed out

As condos and townhouses go up downtown and new businesses open, Mayor Pam Iorio is closer to realizing her dream of turning downtown Tampa into a residential neighborhood.

But homeless people who have been living downtown since long before the construction boom say they are being pushed out of what was once their neighborhood.

City officials say their policy toward the homeless hasn't changed. But church groups and others who feed the homeless say they're increasingly being bothered by the police.

Pastor Tom Atchison of New Life Pentecostal Church of God said he had been serving food every Saturday to up to 200 homeless people in a downtown parking lot. Then in late August, police told him to stop. Atchison called a television reporter who did a story about the confrontation, and he asked for a meeting with the mayor and made plans to alert the City Council.

But before he could, a police officer called him and said he wouldn't be bothered again.

"I think it was because of the TV story," he said.

Fran Davin, the mayor's liaison on homelessness issues, recently contacted police with a complaint she received about a group feeding people in Curtis Hixon Park.

On Oct. 5, an officer approached Robbie Davis, who has been offering food to about 100 people at the park every Wednesday night for four years.

Davis said the officer was apologetic, but the developer of a nearby condo tower under construction had complained.

"He asked if we might be able to do it someplace else," said Davis, who tried to get a permit for his event from the city.

"The lady I talked to was real nice, but she was not real helpful other than to give me the names of the owners of parking lots," Davis said.

He turned to Father Andrew Reitz, pastor of Sacred Heart, who gave Davis permission to use church property.

A matter of policy

Davin, who served on a homelessness task force created by Iorio, defended the call to the police.

"We have a standing policy that feeding in the parks is not appropriate because we don't have the adequate sanitary services, and you can't displace and interrupt other programs," Davin said. "We have encouraged everybody that does feeding to do it on private property."

Reitz said police asked him if he would like the homeless chased away. No thanks, he said.

"It's God's house, and they should be able to sleep near God's home," he said.

City officials aren't pleased that dozens of homeless people sprawl out in front of a downtown landmark every night.

"It's not a good situation from the standpoint of the city, but that's private property," said Darrell Smith, Iorio's chief of staff.

Complaints about Sacred Heart and other downtown spots that attract the homeless have been mounting, said Laura McElroy, Tampa police spokeswoman.

Business owners report that homeless people urinate on their property, sleep on the sidewalk and intimidate customers, she said.