A proposal to build public bathrooms for homeless people in a neglected park in Denver has pitted neighbors and businesses against homeless advocates.

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The dirt parcel, flanked by the Samaritan House and the Denver Rescue Mission, has been neglected by the city and is overrun with drugs and many consider it unsafe, reported the Denver Post Tuesday.

Advocates for the homeless say the land is a perfect site for the bathroom facility, but neighbors are against the plan. Many believe the public bathroom would encourage loitering, drug use and criminal activity.

Maintaining such a bathroom facility would be a problem, according to Tom Hawkey, Parks and Recreation projects manager.

"The location is horrible, the maintenance is an issue," said Tiffany Mohring, spokeswoman for city Parks and Recreation.

The nearby homeless shelters said they did not want to maintain the facility either.