MANATEE -- At least 208 homeless people stayed a total of 115 nights at a shelter last year, according to data provided to Manatee County by 16 service providers, a county official said.

Community leaders and county officials are discussing plans to build a new shelter to serve the homeless and those at risk of becoming homeless, an effort they said will require the help of the entire community, including business owners.

Cheri Coryea, neighborhood services director for the county, said there is still not a definite location for the facility, but one of the areas could be near the Bill Galvano One Stop Center, which offers counseling and other services.

“I don’t want to see it here,” said Kevin McKeever, owner of McKeever Automotive across from the center. “It’s not going to give me any more business ... they think I’m part of One Stop and that I’ll fix their flat tires or lend them tools. I’m close to being out of business.”

He said a lot of nearby business owners resent the center and that people that use the center are disruptive. “I hear people yelling and screaming three to four times a week,” McKeever said, adding that police officers are routinely called to the area.

Coryea said clients of One Stop and of a possible new facility should be encouraged to respect nearby businesses.

“I think that’s very unfortunate,” she said of negative complaints about the center. “But it’s not the intent of the project to have negative effects on businesses.”

Coryea said she encourages business owners to voice their dissatisfaction in order to reach a solution. “If they come forward and talk to us about the kind of experiences they had, we can work with clients to make sure those things decrease and eventually don’t exist.”

She said people that use the center are individuals who could potentially become employees of the businesses in the area.

Rules for the “low-demand” center, where people could stay a night, or even longer, have not been written, she said.

At a “No Place like Home” public forum on Jan. 29, more than 100 people showed up to list potential sites for a shelter and to discuss resources they could contribute to reducing homelessness, said Adell Erozer, executive director of Community Coalition on Homelessness.

Erozer said that providing stable, safe housing for individuals first, and then providing assistance for drug or alcohol habits has proven to be effective.

In 2010, around 810 students were reported to be or have been homeless, according to the Manatee County School District. Recent U.S. Census data indicates that more than one in five students in the district, 5-17 years old, lived in poverty in 2010.

One Stop served 6,622 people last year, though not all were homeless, she said.

“We have the services to provide,” Erozer said. “But no housing.”