Lakewood Shifts Blame to RecoveryWorks

When businesses came to the permit hearing to express concern, Lakewood was ready and blamed the problems on RecoveryWorks. Lakewood now has a new managing operator, Volunteers of America (VOA), and a new operating model that limits the number of shelter recipients.

So even though Lakewood was responsible for problems, by implementing these new standards, Lakewood essentially asked for a second chance and people present agreed it was worth a try.

Dismissing Crime Rates

The impact to the surrounding properties was one of the criteria to approve the permit. Only two Commissioners, Steven Buckley and Jake Carias, showed any concern for this point. The rest of the Commissioners were solely focused on the need for the center and how to serve even more people experiencing homelessness.

The city staff presentation for the permit hearing did not include any discussion on negative impacts to business but later shared that Lakewood has now designed new safety protocols for the Navigation Center and is working with VOA extensively because the VOA has so much experience. Lakewood Police believe things will be better this time around.

Tom Thatcher, from Royce Industries across the street, says things are better – he only found 2 syringes and a couple bottles lately. He can manage with that. And now the people who used to hang out by his place now hang out a couple doors down. Commissioner Jake Carias noted there is shade available at that location.

Not discussed was the fact that things are better lately because the shelter has been closed for renovations since last April.

Carias said there remained a question regarding whether the city met the criteria regarding impacts on nearby businesses. He personally met with many people and admits the feedback was “a mixed bag”.  To make a decision, he leaned on public comment for this one hearing. The majority of public input was in reference to helping the homeless, not its impact on nearby properties.

Commissioner Steven Buckley moved on from problems by asking city staff to continue to engage in dialogue with business owners.

Rewriting Law – City Claims No Permit Was Needed

Several people brought up Lakewood’s lack of permit.

Lakewood Planning Director Paul Rice said that a permit is only needed for overnight use. However, Rice admits that there was overnight use since the beginning, although he goes on to say that it was temporary, cold-weather use. Which means he admits it was a shelter while saying it didn’t need a special use permit. One of those statements is either a lie, or at the very least, not the full truth.

Lakewood has claimed the building was a shelter for years. City staff and Council were very proud of their cold weather, emergency shelter. Claiming this was not a shelter or that it didn’t need a permit is manipulating the truth. All discussion about the repealed zoning was a red herring.

Any city official could have explained that the shelter should have gotten a permit but instead got an exemption from the City Manager. This was an abuse of authority documented in previous reporting. 

This abuse of authority is evident by the amount of confusion seen during the permit hearing.  Lakewood followed the letter of the law and took legal actions by exploiting loopholes. Neighbors could not get straight answers. “Technically legal” actions caused confusion and dissatisfaction because regular residents expect the spirit of the law to be preserved, not exploited by people in positions of trust.

Lakewood Manager of Housing & Thriving Communities, Chris Conner, said there will be other options for emergency weather services when that time comes but offered no details.

Planning Commission Discussion

The overwhelming majority of questions from the Planning Commission were not pertinent to the permit criteria. Instead, they were just general questions on how the Navigation Center would operate, which would be subject to change anyway. However, going into details such as drop-in versus referral was an opportunity to educate the public and get personal opinions from the Commission.

Commissioner Buckley also went through multiple questions raised by the public so they could get prompt answers on a variety of topics.

Commissioner Elizabeth Moolenaar wondered if the Navigation Center was big enough to help the homeless and Commissioner Jennifer O’Neil wondered about expanding the operating hours and beds.

Commissioner Topher Williams asked similar questions. He also made sure to let the public know there was no such problem called loitering. Then he applauded city meeting notifications, although the results were unsatisfactory to some residents. Williams also advocated for the safety of substance abusers because open air drug use is not the main problem in the community. Williams acknowledged these points were not pertinent to the permit.

Commissioners Buckley and O’Neil asked about the referral process. Not clear if referrals made operations better or if they were just curious.

Newly appointed Commissioner Jake Carias stood out because he visited the site and noticed things like lack of trash receptacles.  

Permit Approved Unanimously

The Navigation Center is currently the only shelter Jefferson County. The 100 beds available could reduce people on Lakewood streets by over 30%. This is different from ending homelessness, which is a problem no other city following this model has solved.

Lakewood is working on further actions with Jefferson County and surrounding municipalities. An Intergovernmental Agreement is expected by October 1, 2026 but no details are available yet.