As reported by CBS News, a fire in an abandoned gas station on February 3 endangered 20-30 homeless people who were using the building as a shelter. The situation underscores the need to re-examine several ongoing strategies, such as:
West Metro Fire unofficial policy of not enforcing fire safety standards in homeless encampments. West Metro officials have said these fires are a matter of life and death so encampment fires are typically allowed or deprioritized for enforcement activity.
At around 10 p.m. on Monday night a fire tore through a vacant Colorado building that was once used as a gas station. The building at the corner of Alameda Avenue and Harlan Street in Lakewood was being used as a shelter.
A resident of the apartment building next door captured video of flames shooting out of the building’s windows.
“Thank God the response was quick,” Victor Garibay said.
Garibay didn’t take the video, but he lives in the same apartment building. He and his neighbors raised concerns about people coming and going from the building several times.
“A lot of people have gone to the police have gone to the fire department and told them about the issues here — people coming in and out. The drug use, of course. The police have come, the fire department has come but they never seem to really be able to do anything about it,” he said.
Cold weather has been an accepted fact of Colorado life for thousands of years. That is, except in Lakewood, where normal winter weather has been declared an emergency for the last two years. The city’s seasonal emergency declaration allows Lakewood to bypass its own procedures and operate a homeless shelter — without a required permit. Did Lakewood lack planning, or did the city plan to use an emergency declaration to purposely operate without official votes? Another emergency declaration will be made, if it hasn’t already been, for 2025, the third year in a row.
“Any time there is forecast to be an extraordinary emergency/extreme weather event involving sustained temperatures at or below twenty (20) degrees Fahrenheit I have determined that a local extreme weather emergency exists requiring and authorizing me to exercise any or all of the emergency powers vested in me as City Manager…”
Extraordinary weather event? Meaning natural Colorado winter weather?
Sustained cold? Like, overnight? How is this extraordinary?
“In Lakewood, the summers are warm, the winters are very cold and snowy, and it is partly cloudy year-round. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 23°F to 87°F and is rarely below 7°F or above 95°F.” –Weatherspark.com
The weather itself is not the emergency. Rather, Lakewood leadership wanted to start a homeless shelter but did not want to go through the normal process of public hearings to decide on a homeless policy. This public process would be open for community comment but the establishment of homeless shelters is a contentious issue that could lead to unfavorable attention. So, to avoid this prickly issue, it appears that Lakewood City Manager Kathy Hodgson issued an emergency proclamation declaring that normal weather is an emergency, completely bypassing public policy processes, presumably with City Council’s full approval.
With this emergency mechanism in place, Lakewood could immediately start operating a homeless shelter. Interestingly, Lakewood had already applied for state funds, assuring the State that it would get the required permit when necessary. Unfortunately for the citizens, by the time the permit hearing is held (still in future), Lakewood leadership could claim the emergency process has been historically in place for the past few years, with funding appropriated – thus automatically approving the required permits.
A permit is necessary by code to operate a homeless shelter. Lakewood had to write a new law in 2023 to operate a temporary shelter.
The emergency shelter mechanism appears to be a carefully constructed misinformation tactic that abuses the public trust. Most significantly, Lakewood has completely bypassed important public policy discussions which resulted in citizens in cities like Arvada to vehemently oppose proposals for getting into the homelessness industry.
“Our hope is that we can ribbon cut this address as a 24/7 shelter in 2025,” said Chris Conner, Manager Housing and Thriving Communities. He assumes the shelter permit will be approved. Still, there was no mention of public policy debate of homeless response in Lakewood and no response to public criticism of the current shelter.
City Council has made it clear during study sessions that they approve of staff policy. Study sessions have no public comment or votes. The only vote so far has been to approve the fund appropriations. There will also be the anticipated vote from the Planning Commission for a shelter that everyone seems to think is guaranteed.
Lakewood City Manager Kathy Hodgson continues to get annual bonuses and salary increases, while Council approves of finding legal loopholes to make policies materialize without official Council votes. That keeps the policy power within the City Manager’s office and allows those involved to blame others for the lack of proper public process.
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 Thriving Communities, Chris Conner, provided various reasons as to why homeless did not die of hypothermia, including that Lakewood is now saving them through the new shelter. The data shows that hypothermic deaths are not statistically significant in any Jeffco population, before or after the shelter started.
From the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office 2023 Report
City staff highlighted statistics from the Jeffco Coroner’s report which shows the total number of accidental (non-traffic) deaths across all of Jeffco. Weather exposure is the 4th leading cause of death in that category with a total of 9.
MECHANICAL FALL: “The majority of accidental deaths investigated by the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office (JCCO) are due to injuries such as hip fractures or intracranial hemorrhages from mechanical falls in the elderly population. Accidental overdose or drug toxicity deaths also account for a large portion of accidental deaths investigated by the JCCO.”
Given the statistics, unless they are elderly, an unhoused resident is far more likely to die from drug intoxication than exposure to the elements.
A closer look reveals that the number of county-wide deaths from exposure is far less than the number of Lakewood suicides, traffic accidents or homicides. (Note that the traffic accidents did not occur on any road with the newly lowered speed limit.) Although most deaths are from natural causes, there were 15 homicides in 2023 and City Council has repeatedly refused to investigate crime as an issue.
There is no breakdown of accidental, non-traffic deaths, that occurred in just Lakewood but those statistics have been requested for future reports.
Westword did an in-depth investigation into exposure deaths among the homeless and found that all 8 deaths in that year were accompanied by drug or alcohol intoxication.
Given the amount of death by drugs, if Lakewood’s goal was to save lives, a better priority may be to get into the business of mental health or drug treatment, rather than shelter.
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 of the community know what was going on or if they agreed.
Chris Conner, Manager of Housing and Thriving Communities, said several times that turning people away from the shelter was untenable and that Lakewood would need to grow services in order to be sustainable. He said he did not want to open the shelter permanently without knowing that there was overflow capacity, which the county is currently filling.
Jefferson County provides hotel vouchers for shelter overflow. Vouchers are coveted commodities so Lakewood staff work hard to randomize so that no one can exploit a system just to capture a hotel room. Hotels may not be within Lakewood. Lakewood provides transportation to hotels, through Bayaud Enterprises. Jefferson County pays to bring people back from hotels in order to return the unhoused to Lakewood. Lakewood had a bid out, as of November 18, that would include paying for transportation again in 2025.
The unhoused are incentivized, and reportedly prefer, to stay in Lakewood, a growing program.
Lakewood staff has new emergency criteria that will open the shelter 50-70 nights a year while also increasing the amount of people served by 50%.
Conners said that solutions to homelessness would be to either increase shelters or move people into housing. He said that the move to housing will be when he would be asking for more help in terms of personnel and budget, meaning he is not talking of personal homes.
Keep in mind that Lakewood is altering its ordinances to allow for temporary housing, that seems to fit the definition of housing as a solution, i.e. Lakewood permanently funding housing for a population.
In every case, the feeling is that more resources are needed with no limit.
Councilor Sinks expressed the concern about getting the 24/7 operations started soon.
Council Member Cruz acknowledged there is more need in Lakewood than we can currently handle so she welcomed the county program to pay for hotel rooms. She is happy that Lakewood expanded the days the shelter will be open. Again, no council vote was taken on any policy regarding days or policy to open.
Many Councilors expressed the hope that other cities follow Lakewood, including Mayott-Guerrero, Cruz, Shahrezaei, Low, and Rein, and some asked how Lakewood could pressure other cities into participating.
Will surrounding cities give in to peer pressure to start homeless initiatives or will they listen to their constituents first? Arvada had to cancel the plans of City Council after listening to residents. Lakewood is not even listening to the neighbors of the shelter as crime increases and Lakewood becomes a magnet for homeless.
Mayor Pro Tem Shahrezaei expressed gratitude that city staff built a policy that includes what she was hearing from stakeholders.
What stakeholders? There was no city survey like they do for much smaller projects such as an individual park plan or giant multi-step surveys to keep your tax dollars. And isn’t it the job of City Council to set policy?
Shahrezaei’s statement acknowledges the runaround and backroom dealing that made this homeless shelter slash navigation center possible. Her statement also corresponds with that of Strom and Mayott-Guerrero, celebrating the increased communication with everyone but the community at large and only after the plan was implemented.
Council Member Low thanked the staff for “framing the discussion around the hypothermia issue and the emergency room visits.” He went on to say, “I think that’s a very sobering but meaningful statistic for us to be looking at and hopefully we can continue to have that number be zero or as close to it as possible so if we could have the city continue to get us that at least annually to assess whether this is continuing to save lives.”
There was no explanation as to why, if the number of deaths has always been zero or close to zero, Lakewood would need a shelter. It is unlikely that a shelter will decrease deaths below zero.
Low is also interested in having city staff expand meal services at the shelter, an idea brought up by several councilors previously. He encouraged staff to increase the budget for next year as necessary to support the clear agenda of City Council regarding this activity.
All Council Members who spoke at the meeting encouraged more spending and more services for the homeless shelter (Councilors Olver and Nystrom were silent).
Nothing really new came out of the study session, except this may be the only time residents will hear that Lakewood will be expanding homeless services, without vote, without a Council policy, and without public conversation.
Lakewood has budgeted an ongoing $466,000 for Severe Weather Sheltering. This is a separate initiative from the Navigation Center but for now, the Severe Weather Shelter operates out of the Navigation Center. Once remodeled, the Navigation Center will have full-time sheltering capabilities. The Severe Weather Shelter is only for times when the temperature reaches below 32 degrees. In Colorado, there are about 153 days a year below 32. Lakewood leadership has not yet reached a consensus on sheltering options for the very hot days, but that discussion is happening. These are two separate discussions, weather sheltering and everyday sheltering, to serve different needs for the homeless population. The result is more homeless sheltering options and an increased budget. Money will come from the city General Fund. A decision on where to have a permanent Severe Weather Shelter has not yet been disclosed.
Lakewood has also set aside $300,000 from the Economic Development Fund to donate to unhoused non-profits, as well as $9.5 million to buy property for potential homeless initiatives.
Graph from BestPlaces.net showing approximately 153 days below 32 degrees
The owners of Lakewood affordable housing are plagued by crime that is ruining their business and driving residents away. A piece of their property was taken by Lakewood in 2022 through eminent domain to be used as a bike path. Now that bike path, along RTD tracks, is home to so much illegal activity that the people living nearby are leaving their affordable housing to go elsewhere. Property owners made another plea to City Council on August 26 asking for police enforcement. Property owners met with RTD on September 9 and city representatives accepted the invitation to attend. However, no new actions or greater enforcement was promised. Property owners were urged to keep calling but their calls will remain a low priority since Lakewood does not prioritize drug use or vagrancy.
“We have Section 8 people who do not want to live at our property and are moving out. We have higher turnover and vacancy costs. We are being put out of business by the issues going on across the street. Our business is to help and provide affordable housing.” – Property owner
The owners have made hundreds of calls to police in the last years. The police are involved in several incidents but say their hands are tied so they try and disperse the people loitering, who then return and continue their activities, leaving evidence of drug use and drug deals on the property.
City Council defends programs of selective enforcement or non-enforcement. These programs nullify the law, leaving people like these owners to watch their affordable housing become uninhabitable. Council has chosen to keep laws on the books that the city will not enforce.
The Zephyr property used to have a valuable amenity, being on a quiet, dead-end street near the lightrail. That has changed.
“…now it’s drugs and illegal activity. This isn’t watching people smoking weed. This is watching people doing hard drugs and bad things. All day every day.” – Property owner
Image from public comment presentation showing someone passed out, and people loitering.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time these property owners have had to come before City Council. They came a year ago to plea for help and came once before that. They have been ignored for years. Points West still operates out of Lakewood to provide safe drug use material with county funding. (Read more about these complaints in Lakewood Informer news)
Lakewood police told property owners that calls on infractions involving illicit drug use and vagrancy are a low priority call. On the day of the RTD meeting, RTD and Lakewood officials came to the property to find the remains of a campfire that vagrants had set the night before. Lakewood considers the space a park and allows people to stay. RTD also allows people to stay as long as needed.
Lakewood does not prioritize drug use or vagrancy. – Policy of Lakewood Police as explained to property owners
We’re the owners and managers of 1320, 1330 Zephyr Street. We’re a family-owned business that was started in 1991. Over the last 10 years we’ve produced a portfolio of apartments, mostly in West Denver and in Lakewood. We currently own more than 300 units in Lakewood, and multiple properties along the light rail station. We take pride in providing safe, clean, affordable housing, and we are committed community partners, striving to make a positive impact. In the community we operate.
More than a third of our tenants are on Section 8 housing vouchers.
Our main focus today is the challenges of the transit population along Wadsworth Station specifically, that is affecting Zephyr Street and multiple properties along the light rail station. We purchased the Zephyr apartments in 2016. We improved the property investing in the units, common area, and had a stable, quiet property, um, that families enjoyed living in.
In 2022, the City of Lakewood came and took part of the property via eminent domain to create a larger public walkway and bike path, and they took valuable parking from our residents. Since then, we’ve had ongoing issues with the transit population along the light rail that was once a valuable amenity to our tenants. Here’s our property, highlighted in green, the Wadsworth station is one block to the east of the picture, highlighted in yellow is the section that was eminent domain from our property.
Here is the southeast, southwest corner of our property, looking to the east of the light rail station is 2 blocks um past our property, um, and this shows the area that was eminent domain.
I’m gonna just talk about some of the safety concerns and issues that we have since the property was taken this larger walkway, um, sits behind a chain link fence from our property and our tenants no longer feel safe. This is a place that was a nice area. The street dead ends there. And so a nice public space and it’s now drugs and illegal activity. This isn’t watching people smoking weed. This is watching people doing hard drugs and bad things. All day every day. People don’t want their kids to use the bike path. Tenants don’t feel comfortable going and using the public transportation and light rail.
What was once an amenity is now a nuisance.
We’ve constant trespassing and public intoxication. So we have people that come onto our side and they come on people’s balconies, they break into our property in common area. We’ve had theft of our property of our tenant’s property and vehicles. With people using the bathroom out of the bathroom. People doing Schedule One drugs and doing other things that nobody wants to see all day every day at their apartment. It’s a health and safety concern. They’re creating trash constantly, so the trash gets in between this fence and is littered onto our property. So WE have to go pick up needles and, and spend time and money, to make a safe place for our tenants in our community, which is our goal as a landlord.
The unauthorized vehicle access.
We have limited parking spaces in our property and now people literally come and park illegally at our property to sell drugs at this location.
The conduct is that we have cars that are left and abandoned there. We do have the police involved and they’ve come and made some arrests and done some things, but they really, if you talk to the police, their hands are tied and they tell people to kind of move along and people are back shortly thereafter. People continue to enter our property, the criminal activity and drug use is consistent, and I mean, these are pictures of this is a guy on our property passed out. I mean, literally needs help. This is just showing from a car the quantity of people that gather here. Some of these are videos that you play, but you guys get the idea. I mean, there is a constant stream of people here and as landlords on the other side of the fence. We can’t, there’s only so much that we can do. We’ve called the police 100 times in the last year, more than I think, 45 times since April. You can’t see these police reports, but there’s all the things happening at the property, fireworks, drugs, breaking and entering, theft.
You know, as a property owner, we think we have a responsibility, and our tenants have a responsibility to the public space. Um, they need to take care of the public space. They shouldn’t endanger the life of people around the area. They shouldn’t conduct property damage or destruction, or they shouldn’t materially harm or threaten people or properties, health, safety and welfare. And this happens every single day to the tenants at our property, from the people who are right there on the other side of the fence, and,
We feel like the city has a responsibility to uphold the same standards that we would want to uphold as a landlord in our private property on your private property, and it’s just not being done today.
We want to be a good neighbor. We want to help out, but there’s a situation right now where it’s. We can’t go and arrest people on the other side of the fence like we could play, you know, Hansen bop like and we put up bigger lights. They just have a nighttime party now, like I mean, we, we’re as a landlord, spending time and money, we’ve installed lighting, cameras. We’ve hired security that comes, we constantly contact you guys. This is my first time speaking with you guys. I believe this is Elon’s 3rd time. We’ve reached out to RTD. We actually have a meeting set up with RTD.
But we have a request for action. We want to be able to use our walking and bike path and our public transportation, and it shouldn’t be a place that people can do illegal activities, camp and have vagrancy. It makes it difficult for people to ride their bikes around town, to go and use mass transit. And so how do we move people in a safe and, and respectful way.
The Action Center is a quarter of a mile from our property. Involving the action center and getting these people real help. Installation of signs that just say no loitering camping or noise violations maybe creating a quiet hours where after certain times, people can’t congregate in these areas.
We would ask the city, it’s your fence, not our fence to just install a cover or barrier like you’d have at a construction site. So people don’t have to watch people doing bad things all day every day with their families and their kids, I think an increased police and security presence and we’re in Ward 2.
I know that we’ve messaged, I know there’s things happening on your guys’ side, you know. We’re,
We want to be a team player. We’ll donate our time and effort to help. We’ll donate our money. We want to make this a place that people want to live and stay, be with their families.
We have Section 8 people who do not want to live at our property and are moving out. We have higher turnover and vacancy costs. We are being put out of business by the issues going on across the street. Our business is to help and provide affordable housing.
We need action. I know Elon’s come three times. I don’t know what has to happen. I know this is not just in this area of the city, it’s in a lot of areas of the city, but in these areas that are specifically right by where mass transit is, that people should be using to take to work should be a predominant focus of the city, of what we can do and what we can help.
In a city council it’s great to have ideas and meetings, but we need action to solve the problems and issues in front of us. So thank, thank you. I appreciate you taking the time. We have tons of pictures and all kinds of really terrible stuff. I, I don’t think the videos are playing, but at the end of the day, I think you guys get the idea, you don’t need to see the pictures and videos we have, but they are everything and it’s sad to see it happen to the community in the area and we’d like to invite you out to the meeting with RTD. If you would like to attend, please let us know. We’re meeting the Deputy Chief Stephen, I’m forgetting his name, of RTD on September 9th at 10 a.m. and so we welcome anybody to come and see the issue and what’s going on there, um. And uh and talk about solutions and problems that we can take as, uh, private and public partners to help the issue. Thank you.
A Lakewood resident gave an impassioned speech about how crime has dramatically increased around the Lakewood Navigation Center. She spoke immediately after City Council passed their new ordinance to allow more transitional housing for homeless. This resident lives near the new Navigation Center shelter and has had her life threatened multiple times. Council members, like Council Member Low in Monday’s meeting, like to point out studies where crime has decreased around pallet homes or shelters in Los Angeles. What they don’t say is that crime first dramatically increases due to the city’s policy of enabling crime through compassionate non-enforcement and enabling of unhoused activities.
“Today is the third time in less than three months that my life has been threatened…. These people told me they would knock me off my bike, beat me to death and kill me.”
“They go back there and smoke their crack and smoke their meth.”
“When we call the police, WE become the criminals.”
See this Lakewood resident speak at video minute marker 2:05:30
Transcript:
I live [in Ward 1]. The Garrison station’s there, the James Richie park is there, the action Center’s there, and just a few blocks from that is your Recovery Center.
I can’t walk to the grocery store. I can’t ride my bike around my neighborhood from all the drugs and you all sit here with all this enthusiasm to help the homeless.
I’m not an uncompassionate person. I have compassion to help those that want to help themselves.
Drug addicts are not housing insecure.
Yes, they live on my street and they endanger me every single day. I can’t go and dump my garbage without this, okay (holds up can of mace). I can’t dump my garbage. It’s literally 20 feet from my house because I have to carry mace.
Today marks the third time, not the second, I was a little upset when I called you today, the third time in less than three months my life has been threatened. Three times! Do you guys get threatened every day in your neighborhood? Do you have to carry mace just to dump your garbage? I doubt it.
The police are familiar with this.
Every time myself and my other neighbors contact [the police] we’re the criminals.
Those of us that have worked hard all of our lives and paid for a place and pay our taxes and we’re the criminal. Oh but they’re homeless! Today the police officer when I called dispatch they said do you want to press charges and I said absolutely!
These people, five of them, said they were going to knock me off my bike, beat me to death and then kill me, which was both the same thing.
They asked if I wanted to press charges. I said yes.
No one came.
They told me to wait in the Action Center in the parking lot. I did for 15 minutes while they all dispersed and harassed me on their way out of town or wherever they were headed and then, when the cops finally got there after I called 911 the second time, three officers show up in three different $250,000 vehicles and go,
“What do you expect us to do?”
That was the response after they interrogated me, the victim. It was what do you want us to do. This is crap. You guys know it.
The police aren’t doing anything.
You guys have an ordinance sign ordinance 9.66.10. It’s got the City of Lakewood written on it and it says no trespassing in giant letters. It’s down to a ravine it also backs up to a derelict property that has drug dens on it. That’s all they do. They go back there and smoke their crack and smoke their meth. That’s what they do. I know it for a fact. I’m not just making it up to be mean to homeless people.
This is a dangerous little corridor. It’s a simple fix folks and it doesn’t take $250,000 SUVs to fix it. How about you put a couple of e-bike cops out there. They could ride between Garrison and Carr Street and 13th and 14th and be busy 24 hours a day.
Lakewood City Council amended the building code to allow transitional housing for homeless on September 9. There were no defined programs, no defined projects, no defined locations, no operational guidelines and no defined structures. City Council Members spent most of their comments defending the lack of specificity by saying this is just the first step. They pointed to the housing crisis as evidence of need. Council positions are summarized below. The vote was 10-1, with Councilor Olver being the sole no vote. Programs can start as soon as the city acquires land, which was not approved in the 2025 budget.
Councilor Rein proposed a contentious amendment that would require the city to own or control the housing programs. There was push back from Council Members Shahrezaei, Mayott-Guerrero, Stewart, Cruz, Low, Nystrom, and Sinks. The feeling seemed to be that Lakewood should buy the land with taxpayer money and allow the programs but essentially give it to private actors to use for the homeless. An interesting note is that many Council Members frequently mention their work for non-profits while advocating like they are soliciting donations, rather than legislating from a government responsibility standpoint.
There is a homelessness crisis and if we don’t do anything we are complicit…. People have a right to shelter. – Public Comment, Amber Varwig
Rein eventually removed his owned or control language. That means any non-profit can control the program. As Council Member Shahrezaei pointed out, this includes faith-based programs. Once approved, the city will have no control over the program.
“It is irresponsible to change this ordinance for plans that you are not willing to be transparent about.” – Public Comment, Wendy Shrader
There is no defined project, policy or process for a city approved project so staff was unable to answer many of the City Council questions, which was awkward because City Council obviously had specific things in mind and they struggled to figure out how to get their base assumptions resolved.
“How far from the usual do you want to go in amending this building code” …Transitional housing is not within in the purview of the building code to begin with. – City staff response upon being questioned on whether it is even possible to put “own or control” definitions into the building code.
Without a defined “City of Lakewood Transitional Housing Program” , and without a defined approval process, this discussion could morph into anything in future.
Council Member Comments and Positions
Stewart: Asked questions so that staff can reiterate that these units are safe. Clarifies that City Council asked for this ordinance before other pieces come forward. She says that when they tried to do safe parking they had a vendor lined up and then had to wait because the city hadn’t changed the ordinance first. She clarifies with staff that the word control and approved is not defined in the ordinance as passed, which she agrees to.
Mayott-Guerrero: Says we’ve been working on getting this housing ability for two years. Now that there is a code they can work on a specific project. She says there are already homeless here and so taking care of them prevents problems later on. This is a local solution to a national problem. Rejects using the building code to try and control a program and does not try to define what a program means in the ordinance.
LaBure: Questions if garage door mechanisms are included in the amendment. Sees the need to address the affordable housing crisis but half the city is zoned R1 so we need to change the building code.
Low: The city needs to provide housing so that people can get the help they need. Says LA and Denver crime went down around pallet homes. Reiterates that the proposal is a result of council request, not a specific project and asks how the specific project would be approved. Answer is that the approval process has not been set but there have been conversations about what is needed. There may need to be a permit review involving public hearing.
Sinks: Clarifies that these new units will not be going into parks or open space.
Cruz: Asks whether a non-profit could partner in these projects. The answer is that it is only city approved, does not need to be city controlled. She says there is a human cost in not taking action.
Rein: Next step is for staff to provide a framework to answer all these questions, such as does it need a special use permit, which is an option but not certain. Rein motions to add language “owns (in whole or in part), or controls, or both” to the projects. so that the city always has “skin in the game”. He later removes this language.
Shahrezaei: As to the amendment, she approves the subcontractor relationship, (rather than the having the city own or control). City staff answers that this is a policy decision and that control could come from the permitting process.
Nystrom: Strongly states that City Council has nothing specific planned, they are just getting ready. Lakewood has a homelessness problem. People who are living on the streets need our help. Naysayers should consider being more compassionate.
Strom: Thank you to everyone working on this for the last couple years. This aligns with our priorities.
Scorecard: Amend Building Code for Transitional Housing
City Council Member Rich Olver was the only nay vote for the Strategic Housing Plan, which passed on February 12, 2024. He claimed it was a poisoned pill because it contained provisions that did not have public support, such as using abandoned school buildings for homeless services. Neighborhood associations came to voice their concern that stakeholders were not included. The associations were more concerned about the development strategies than the unhoused strategies. The associations’ comments show that although the plan was billed as affordable housing, there were two distinct pieces: more high-density development and plans for the homeless. Councilor Sophia Mayott-Guerrero said the Housing Plan will work “hand-in-hand” with the Navigation Center. These items are all interconnected to give Lakewood the same framework that cities like Denver use to deal with the unhoused.
The message from February 12 was that a majority of Council want the plan passed; however, there was no clear consensus as to what the plan means.
Councilor Sinks said it would be good to have a roadmap to follow. Others spoke of discussions still to come. Councilor Low promoted strategies for eviction protection, Additional Dwelling Unit expansion and directly funding housing.
Mayor Pro Tem Shahrezaei said, “The action at this point is to adopt this framework. Nobody is agreeing tonight to all these strategies. We are agreeing that there is a need for affordable housing.”
Agreeing to a need for affordable housing does not require even one page. The Strategic Housing Plan is 156 pages of strategies. Which strategies Council did not agree to was not discussed. Instead of approving all strategies in one motion, each strategy could be adopted by separate motion after further discussion. In fact, many strategies will need to be adopted by modifying ordinance to implement.
Olver said this plan is not making more affordable housing, it is not stopping corporate land speculation, or increasing home ownership possibilities. He asked for more time to study, but no other Councilor agreed. Other Council Members had agreed to pass the plan at a previous study session.
Shahrezaei pointed out that the Strategic Housing Plan was funded by the Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA), the same department that funded the navigation center, and that Lakewood could not even change the name of the product DOLA had paid for.
How much of Lakewood’s policy does DOLA fund?
Is accepting all this “free money” from DOLA leading Lakewood to take the steps the state wants, rather than the steps the local residents are asking for?
Olver went on to explain that housing migrants in the schools would not happen because that requires a public process to rezone an abandoned school into a residential area. Just like operating a shelter requires a special use permit that requires a public process, unless there is a very good reason. In the case of the navigation center, the city planned for it to be used as an emergency shelter but didn’t get a permit because it was an “emergency”. Now the city has accepted a grant requiring the land to be used as a shelter so there is an argument that there the city cannot NOT approve a shelter permit, regardless of how many people show up during public process. Experiences like these may have been in the minds of the people laughing at the words “public process” during the meeting.
Scorecard: Approve Lakewood Strategic Housing Plan
Strom: Aye
Shahrezaei: Aye
Sinks: Aye
Mayott-Guerrero: Aye
Cruz: Aye
Stewart: Aye
Low: Aye
Olver: Nay
Rein: Aye
LaBure: Aye
Nystrom: Aye
Read previous articles about the Strategic Housing Plan:
According to the article below, Recovery Works has completed the purchase of a motel in Lakewood. The motel will be an additional Jefferson County shelter and service center for the unhoused. Recovery Works is the same organization that will be running the new Navigation Center in Lakewood. Lakewood Council will vote on appropriating funds for the project on February 12, 2024.
IMPACT Commercial Real Estate has announced the recent sale of a former motel that will now serve as the future home for a nonprofit organization, Recovery Works. This was not only a significant milestone for the community but a testament that commercial properties can transform into something that will make a positive impact on the community as well.
The newly purchased 10,000-square-foot building is strategically located at 14825 W Colfax in Lakewood and will serve as a bridge center and resource for the unhoused in Jefferson County by referral. It will help people get back on their feet and find permanent housing for those in need. Recovery Works locations provide additional services, including meals, laundry capabilities and job programs for employment placement.
