Lakewood has spent time and money trying to find a correlation between homeless deaths and cold weather. This might seem obvious, but Lakewood elected officials want to claim the number of lives saved. However, the statistics don’t cooperate. There are no weather-related deaths identified amongst Jefferson County homeless. The leading causes of non-natural death in Lakewood are from mechanical falls, drugs and suicide which far outpace weather exposure. City Council is not spending millions of dollars on those causes. Even the number of homicides in Lakewood outstrips the number of deaths from exposure in all of Jefferson County. No increased spending on police. Is the priority really saving lives? Which lives are the responsibility of Lakewood government? Current statistics are that two Jeffco homeless a month present for help with hypothermia-related symptoms in emergency or urgent care. From 2020-2023, 8-12 Jeffco residents die from hypothermia per year. This category was not significant enough to break out in prior years. There is no data on which city these people are from or if they are unhoused. With the number of unhoused increasing in Jefferson County, the likelihood of any accident will also increase. The Jeffco coroner did not identify any deaths from weather-related or hypothermic causes among people experiencing homelessness” (from Lakewood Study Session presentation minute 14) It is an unfortunate reality that people experiencing homelessness suffer due to the cold. However, it is not a significant cause of death, despite what elected officials are saying. Lakewood Manager of Housing and...
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Resident generated news about Lakewood, Colorado
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Denver’s Sanctuary City status has pushed many of Denver’s homeless into Lakewood. As a result, Lakewood has taken up Denver’s homeless industry and is building a multi-million dollar business. And just like Denver, Lakewood is relying on growing the homeless response. Left unsaid, is that to continually have more response, there must always be homeless to respond to – a reinforcing circle of political expediency that has caused Denver to be one of the worst in the nation despite spending $274 million. Lakewood’s latest study session reveals city staff expanded emergency days and City Council is asking for more. All without any council vote on a city homeless policy – which would easily pass but would require public hearings. All Council Members who spoke at the meeting encouraged more spending and more services for the homeless shelter. Several thanked staff for coming up with this policy although policy is Council’s domain – after a proper vote. Mayor Strom acknowledged on November 18, 2024 that homeless advocacy was a new thing for Lakewood to get involved in and there have been growing pains. She also acknowledged that having good communication to notify people when the shelter was open was very helpful. Council Member Mayott-Guerrero was also thankful for more communication between staff and Council but was concerned even more was needed. She asked if Lakewood had enough homeless navigators to get the word out to the homeless community. Like Mayor Strom’s statement, there was no concern expressed for letting the rest...
From SaveBelmarPark.com The developer of the ‘Properties’ (as we now know they are referred to by their attorneys) at 777 S Yarrow and 777 S Wadsworth has proposed a subdivision re-plat of the 777 S Yarrow location described as a lot line adjustment. However, it does not qualify under Article 16-5-2 of the subdivision code as only a lot line adjustment because several additional changes are included to vacate, add, and modify various easements, an additional tract A is created and it conflicts with the laws requiring subdivision plats to have utility easements delineated and approved. The link above brings up the drawings of the re-plat and if you care to scroll down to page 4, you will notice there is a prominent 30-foot wide easement provided for the Bancroft Water District. However, there is no provision for electrical service or natural gas! Yet Colorado statute requires that: (3) Subdivision regulations adopted under provisions of this section shall require that a subdivider, as defined in section 30-28-101 (9), C.R.S., submit to the commission evidence that provision has been made for facility sites, easements, and rights of access for electrical and natural gas utility service sufficient to ensure reliable and adequate electric or, if applicable, natural gas service for any proposed subdivision. Submission of a letter of agreement between the subdivider and utility serving the site shall be deemed sufficient to establish that adequate provision for electric or, if applicable, natural gas service to a proposed subdivision has been made. Lakewood’s own subdivision code states: “Utility...
From SaveBelmarPark.com Attorneys for Kairoi have now filed a lawsuit regarding the recent ordinance adopted by Lakewood City Council that eliminated the option to pay a fee to avoid providing open space with land development projects. You can read the court filing HERE. Kairoi’s own attorneys have made it crystal clear that the project scope is NOT reflected by any of the four Major SIte Plan submittals Kairoi has filed with Lakewood. We are pointing out that this fact arguably means Kairoi has never filed a ‘substantially complete application’ for their project because over half of the project’s units have not yet been included in their Major SIte Plan submittals! This means Kairoi has no basis to claim that previous city ordinances or other commitments written or oral made by the city should be binding on the city until a full and substantially complete application is brought forward. After all, even for just the 777 S Yarrow site, Kairoi has made no effort in their MSPs to date to even comply with the basic utility easement requirements for water, sewer, natural gas, transformers and electrical service! So even those MSPs are not ‘substantially complete’ because the developer may have to make significant revisions including modify building setbacks and footprint in order to comply with the basic utility easements! Their own attorneys go into detail about Kairoi’s development process including their contractual provisions for land acquisition of the two parcels from the same seller. They state two 12-story buildings are...
From Save Open Space – Lakewood List of related news articles continuously updated Kairoi Properties L.L.C., developer of a planned 412-unit luxury apartment building at Belmar Park, sues Lakewood for enacting an environmentally friendly green initiative The citywide citizen sponsored initiative requires all developments to dedicate green space in lieu of its 13-year tradition of adding to the City’s coffers If Kairoi loses the lawsuit, monstrous buildings planned at Belmar Park and at Quail and Colfax will need to be drastically reduced in size Lakewood, December 26, 2024—This week we present the latest episode of the 13 year-long soap opera, “Lakewood’s Big Lie,” which depicts the dramatic twists and turns of a city that prioritizes large scale developments over nature and its own residents. During those years, Lakewood has given developments carte blanche to ignore as many of its codes as they desire, including tree canopy, climate change goals, seamless architecture in a neighborhood, and affordable housing. On Monday, December 23, it became public that Kairoi Properties LLC had sued the city over the Green Initiative that its city council had passed but doesn’t really want. An explanation of the bizarre turn of events including the political motives behind this unnecessary legal action, is best summed up in the following excerpts from resident Steve Farthing’s email to the savebelmarpark.com group: “Most city council reps took the position [at the November 4 City Council meeting] that the ordinance, as written, would be ruled illegal if a legal challenge were raised in front of a judge. “They...
From SaveBelmarPark.com Lakewood has issued a directional drilling permit ROW24-01480 to the developer as follows: “Xcel Energy gas main extension for new build.” That might sound like a typical thing to do for a new build. But there are some problems. No ‘new build’ has been approved. Or has it? Has the city made a secret deal? Why does the city assume this is a done deal when it is still up to the Planning Commission to decide? Do city staffers have inside information? Have city staffers been having ex parte discussions with Planning Commission members regarding approval of the project? Based on this new permit issuance and the included announcement by the city that there will be a new build at 777 S Yarrow St, we urge that the entire Planning Commission recuse themselves from the decision and refer the matter to the next appeal level in order to avoid what would obviously be a predetermined and biased decision. And further, doesn’t it seem strange extending an Xcel natural gas line to serve an unapproved site when Xcel has explicitly stated the site plan proposal ‘does not seem feasible’? Especially considering the gas line requirements Xcel specifies have not been satisfied even on the 4th site plan submittal from the developer? Read more here…
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