WAUKESHA - Concerns have surfaced about a temporary drop-in shelter for homeless men proposed for a downtown location.

Although the board of directors for the Waukesha Business Improvement District voted 5-3 Monday to not take a position on the shelter planned at St. Matthias Church, 111 E. Main St., several members spoke in clear opposition.

Victoria Hekkers, a board member and downtown resident, said when business owners were asked in a BID survey what would kill the downtown, many responded "vagrants and the homeless hanging around downtown."

"We are not callous. We do care, but this could very well kill business in downtown," Hekkers said. "We have a transit center with buses that will take anybody anywhere in the city or in the county. They don’t all have to be in the downtown. We ask for fairness."

Alderman Randy Radish, who represents the downtown, said of the many phone calls he received about the shelter, only one was in support of it.

"Is there a need for it? There probably is. Is this the right location for it? Absolutely not," Radish said.

Downtown businesses and those who live there might not be the only ones unhappy with the homeless shelter plan.