Lakewood Informer

The Lakewood Citizens Alliance (LCA) announced that the City Clerk has officially approved an initiative for a Charter Amendment aimed at improving public communication, transparency, and community engagement surrounding future large-scale rezoning and legislative land use changes. Centered around the principle of “Transparency Before Transformation,” the proposed amendment is designed to establish clear procedural guardrails for future citywide zoning actions while protecting the character and stability of existing single-family neighborhoods.

Lakewood blamed RecoveryWorks for previous problems at the city homeless shelter. Shifting the blame made it easier to get a  Special Use Permit for the shelter on June 3, 2026. Instead of taking responsibility for the problems they created, city staff said crime and people overflow were caused by RecoveryWorks. RecoveryWorks was managing the property as Lakewood’s handpicked, sole-sourced contractor. The special use permit was approved, which allows Lakewood to continue shelter use with a new operator. Most of the online comments were in favor of granting the permit. However, Lakewood had three misinformation narratives throughout the permit hearing that show they are not acting in good faith: Shifting the blame Dismissing crime rates Claiming no permit was needed

Why hasn’t Lakewood done a safety analysis to show there is no substantial harm in giving the Navigation Center a special use permit? Lakewood is not protecting the current residents and business interests, which is just as important as serving regional homeless. The desire to do good is only half the equation. Demonstrating this use will not substantially impair nearby properties is the other half. The map above shows the number of 911 calls made to the highlighted address since September 2023. This map is incomplete where property addresses did not match Lakewood database. You can see the high number of calls made to the Navigation Center property compared to other properties in the half-mile radius. 

Lakewood and the Jefferson County School District are once again demonstrating how to exploit loopholes to unofficially campaign for a ballot issue. The Jeffco School District Superintendent received time on the Lakewood City Council agenda to give a presentation that included why Jeffco Schools may need to ask for a mill levy override. The school district currently has a $60 million deficit. There were no other points of view presented, just the school district saying they’d need more money.

Credit Union of Colorado Foundation is proud to announce the 2026 winners of its annual college scholarship program. The Foundation awarded 15 students with annual scholarships totaling $110,000 in tuition assistance for the 2026/2027 school year. Lakewood winner, Gemma McIntyre, will use the scholarship to help pay for her education at Colorado Mesa University.

Many groups advocated for densification in 2026 at both local and state level. This list below can be used to identify key players in future campaigns.

The Lakewood Planning Commission is anticipated to approve a Special Use Permit for the Navigation Center on June 3, 2026. Lakewood staff have already made a presentation in favor of the permit. There are no neutral reports or equal opportunities for opposing viewpoints. While public comment is allowed, the way Lakewood interprets the Planning Commission rules means evidence needs to be presented AT THIS HEARING. Every public comment that was made in previous City Council meetings is meaningless unless repeated at the hearing. Testimony at the hearing that presents problems with the special use could result in the permit being denied.

Lakewood proposed, then later retracted, the adoption of a new wildfire resiliency code. Lakewood said the new code was needed to satisfy Colorado Senate Bill 23-166 but the staff memo suggested adopting much more extreme measures than required. The broad impact and high cost led to opposition from the community, which is detailed below. City staff are now developing a new recommendation that will be brought forward when ready, to replace the proposal that was pulled.

Lakewood purchased 8000 W Colfax Avenue to use as an emergency shelter and Navigation Center using a grant from the state to fund the property purchase and renovation. As a condition to getting the grant, Lakewood committed the property to shelter use for 30 years. No public discussion about this condition occurred when City Council authorized the purchase. At an annual operating cost of $3,000,000, that’s a $90,000,000 commitment that was not disclosed to the public. That makes the Center severely underfunded, with declining neighborhood support, and may be one reason for the proposed city sales tax hike.

Lakewood City Council Members gave themselves the right to use the city resources as a personal platform, while at the same time further limiting the voice of the residents. New City Council Policies and Procedures were adopted April 24, 2026.